Srinagar, Apr 24 (IANS): The J&K High Court on Friday rejected the bail application of Hilal Ahmad Rather, son of former Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, in a multi-crore bank fraud.

A single bench of Justice Puneet Gupta heard the arguments of Rather's lawyer whose main contention was that since the Supreme Court had directed for the decongestion of various jails in the country, this directive should be applicable to his client who is suffering from several ailments.

The CBI lawyer, Monika Kohli argued that there was no report from the jail authorities to substantiate the arguments of the petitioner whose application for interim bail needed to be rejected.

After hearing the arguments of the two sides, the court rejected application for interim bail.

Rather was arrested by the CBI in a Rs 177 crore loan scam in which funds were obtained from the local J&K Bank ostensibly for building a residential apartment in Jammu city, but were allegedly diverted for other purposes including purchase of property outside the country.