SC grants interim bail to former chairman of Pune Cooperative bank

The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim bail on medical grounds to former chairman of a Pune-based cooperative bank in a case linked to alleged fraud and misappropriation of funds of the lender worth Rs 429 crore. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra gave relief to Amar Sadhuram Mulchandani, the ex-chairman of the Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank, after taking note of his medical condition. The top court perused a report filed by a board of four expert doctors of the J J Hospital, Mumbai. It also took into account that Mulchandani has been inside jail for over an year. The money laundering probe against Mulchandani, who was arrested on July 1 last year, and others stems from multiple FIRs registered by the Pune Police on the basis of complaints of the bank and the audit conducted by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies which pointed to large-scale fraud and misappropriation of public funds causing a loss of Rs 429 crore to the Seva Vi