Tuesday, February 22 2005 15:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today (Feb 22, 2005) dismissed the plea of Gutka baron Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal urging for cancellation of non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued by a lower court against him for failure to appear in a case of alleged nexus with underworld.

In another development, the court adjourned to February 28 the plea of Gutka king Jagdish Joshi for cancellation of non-bailable warrant on the same charges as he offered to appear before CBI on February 25.

Joshi's lawyer Sirish Gupte told the court that his client would return from UAE on February 24 night and appear before CBI the next day.

Both had challenged an order of a special court which had issued non-bailable warrants against them for their failure to appear before police in a case of alleged nexus with the underworld.

As regards Dhariwal's plea, the court observed that the investigating agency had the powers to call any person for questioning and if that person avoided interrogation then it had the right to procure warrants against him.

Dhariwal, owner of 'Manikchand Gutka', argued that a court did not have the powers to issue warrants to aid an investigation.

However, the High Court observed that the warrant issued by the lower court had asked Dhariwal to present himself before the court and this did not amount to aiding an investigation.

The court rejected Dhariwal's plea that he could not come to India from UAE in order to maintain his NRI status. This argument was not acceptable, justice R M S Khandeparkar and justice P V Kakade remarked.

The prosecution pressed for custodial interrogation of Gutka barons saying only sustained questioning would reveal the truth.

Shekhar Naphade, counsel for the State, said the investigating agency had been corresponding with the gutka barons for two months before procuring warrants. Considering serious allegations levelled against them for offences under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), custodial interrogation was necessary, he said.

Adhik Shirodkar, Dhariwal's counsel, said his client would appear in March end once he completes 180 days stay outside India to maintain his NRI status.

He said Dhariwal had also suggested that he was willing to answer the police queries by video conferencing. Dhariwal had suggested that two officers from the Mumbai police be sent to question him and he would bear the costs for their tickets.

The judges, however, rejected Dhariwal's argument that he should be given time to come to India in order to maintain his NRI status.

Dhariwal, owner of Manikchand gutka and Joshi, owner of Goa gutka, alleged that their letters to police justifying absence in India for questioning had been suppressed.

Naphade refuted the allegations saying that the material was put before the designated judge who issued the warrants.

He read out from their application for non-bailable warrants, which stated that both Dhariwal and Joshi had refused to appear soon.

Naphade said, "We had told the court about the substance of the letters sent by the two."