Mumbai: The Bombay high court today (Nov 2, 2004) reserved order on the bail plea of Anil Gote, former legislator from Dhule, arrested in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam on the charge of aiding and abetting the crime syndicate of Abdul Karim Telgi.

The order was reserved by justice Ajay Khanvilkar, who is likely to give his ruling tomorrow (Nov 3, 2004).

Gote pleaded that his arrest under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was not justified and that he was wrongly booked under this stringent law.

He said there was no evidence to implicate him in the crime and he had no role to play in the conspiracy to help the Telgi syndicate in flourishing the stamp paper racket.

CBI pleaded that there was enough material to implicate Gote in the crime and he was deeply involved in the conspiracy.

CBI said there was prima facie substance to show that time and again he had helped Telgi in establishing contacts with the higher-ups.

In a related development, four other accused in the fake stamp paper scam have asked for bail. They are suspended assistant police inspector, Dilip Kamath, former assistant commissioner of police, Mohammed Mulani, police inspector Dattatraya Ghule and Telgi's suspected close associate Ram Ratan Soni.