Mumbai, Aug 5 (PTI): BJP corporator Akash Purohit was remanded to judicial custody on Wednesday after a sessions court rejected his plea seeking cancellation of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him for failing to appear in a 2020 case related to a protest over electricity supply in Mumbai.

Purohit was taken into custody after the court declined to recall the warrant, which had been issued following his absence during the scheduled hearing.

The case pertains to a 2020 protest over electricity supply, in which Purohit and 19 others, including Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, were booked on charges of allegedly wrongfully confining the then BEST general manager and assaulting police personnel.

The deposition of the investigating officer was scheduled to be recorded on Wednesday, requiring the presence of the accused for identification. However, the hearing was adjourned after Purohit and some of the other accused failed to appear before the court.

The accused later appeared before the court and sought cancellation of the non-bailable warrant. While the court allowed similar pleas by some of the other accused, it rejected Purohit's application, leading to his arrest.

Counsel for the accused submitted that they were delayed due to heavy traffic congestion and a large crowd outside the court premises.

Rejecting the plea, the court noted that non-bailable warrants had been issued against Purohit on earlier occasions as well and that he had previously paid a fine of Rs 2,000 to secure cancellation of such warrants.

Observing that the accused was deliberately adopting delaying tactics, the court said there was no likelihood of his appearing before the trial court in future if released and remanded him to judicial custody.

Purohit is likely to move the Bombay High Court for bail on Thursday, sources said. PTI ZA APL APL

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)