The fate of big-time film financier Bharat Shah, who has been incarcerated since early last year due to his alleged connections to the underworld, is to be decided on 2 April, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court yesterday adjourned final hearing on Shah's bail plea after his counsel said he would be challenging the constitutionality of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), reports state. Shah is currently being held in custody under MCOCA.

Shah has already made four bail applications in the designated MCOCA court which were rejected. Four more applications in the Mumbai High Court were also rejected. It was following the series of denials that Shah moved a special leave petition (SLP) in the Apex Court in November last year.

The diamond jeweller was arrested in January last year. At that time the Mumbai police exposed his alleged connection with Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel in the making of the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke.