Ahmedabad Court rejects bail plea of former Surendranagar collector in multi-crore NA scam

The Ahmedabad Rural Court has rejected the regular bail application of former Surendranagar district collector Rajendra Patel in connection with an alleged multi-crore non-agricultural (NA) permission scam that had created a stir across Gujarat.

District Judge K M Sojitra dismissed Patel’s plea, observing that the accused had played a key role in the alleged corruption case.

In its order rejecting the bail application, the court noted that the accused officers had allegedly colluded to fix different rates for approving applications for NA permissions and change of land use (CLU).

“The accused officers had, in collusion with each other, fixed varying rates for approving NA and CLU applications. Since the accused himself was the district collector, his share in the bribe was allegedly fixed at 50%,” the court observed.

According to the court, Patel allegedly received more than ₹3.12 crore in bribes as part of the scam. Considering the accused’s active and central role in the alleged irregularities, the court said it would not be appropriate to grant bail.

The order also referred to findings of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation of the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Investigators reportedly recovered account sheets and digital evidence related to CLU applications during the probe. These records allegedly included details of applications processed as well as the bribe amounts linked to them.

According to the ED, analysis of the account sheets recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA, statements of co-accused persons and digital records suggested that Patel received a total of ₹3,12,62,230 during his tenure as district collector.