Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to grant interim protection from arrest to Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Pravin Darekar in a case where he is accused of fraudulently contesting a cooperative bank election in the `labour' category.

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A bench led by Justice P B Varale said the BJP leader has other legal remedies which he can pursue, and it was "not inclined at present to pass an order granting relief".

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A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Darekar two days ago for alleged cheating and criminal conspiracy based on a complaint filed by Aam Aadmi Party leader Dhananjay Shinde.

Shinde alleged that Darekar contested the election for director of the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank under the `labour' category even though he was not a labourer.

Darekar had been president of the bank for several years, and in 1997, he fraudulently registered himself as a labourer with the Pratidnya Labour Cooperative Society, the complaint alleged.

The BJP leader approached the high court on Wednesday through his lawyer Abad Ponda, seeking that the FIR be quashed.

Darekar was willing to cooperate with the probe and in the meantime he be granted protection from arrest, the lawyer pleaded.

The HC, however, did not grant him any interim relief. The petition will come up for hearing in due course.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)