A special court in Ahmednagar on Wednesday rejected the interim bail application of Dr Pankaj Jawle, Ahmednagar civic chief, who has been booked by the Jalna unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in a Rs 9.3 lakh bribery case.

Mumbai: A special court in Ahmednagar on Wednesday rejected the interim bail application of Dr Pankaj Jawle, Ahmednagar civic chief, who has been booked by the Jalna unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in a Rs 9.3 lakh bribery case. Apart from him, the ACB had booked Shridhar Deshpande, clerk and personal assistant to Jawle last month.

“We have learnt that Jawle had applied for interim bail, which has been rejected by the court. No arrests have been made in the case so far,” said ACB Deputy Superintendent of Police PV Lokhande.

According to the probing agency, the complainant and his partners are into construction business. He had purchased a plot of 2260.22 sqm at Mauje Nalegaon in Ahmednagar civic limits. Intending to carry out construction on the said plot, the complainant applied to the Ahmednagar civic body to get the required permission and even made an online application on March 18 for the same.

“To grant the permission, Jawle through Deshpande demanded a bribe of Rs 9.3 lakh from the complainant. The latter lodged a complaint on June 19,” said the ACB. Investigation revealed that Deshpande had sought Rs8 lakh and it was also found that Jawle was encouraging the former to demand a bribe from the complainant. The process of filing a police case is underway, the ACB added.