A Delhi Court granted bail to GAIL Director ES Ranganathan after 69 days of his arrest in a bribery case. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested him on January 15 this year for the alleged offence of bribery.
CBI Judge at Rouse Avenue Court Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj observed, "The apprehension that he might influence the witnesses is not supported by any actual threat and appears to be the perception of investigating agency."
The Court further observed, "The charge sheet has been filed, though further investigation is going on. The trial of the matter as such cannot start as of now. The accused was arrested on January 15, 2022. He is in custody for 69 days. The Investigation Officer (IO) has not stated that any new allegation has surfaced against the applicant".
The accused was in judicial custody on 22 January. The first bail plea was dismissed by the court on January 29, 2022. He has been granted bail subject to furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 2 lakh with one surety in the like amount.
Advocate Dhruv Gupta, Counsel for the accused, submitted before the court that other accused persons namely N. Ramakrishnan Nair, Aditya Bansal, Saurabh Gupta, Pawan Gaur and Rajesh Kumar have already been granted bail.
The counsel for the accused also submitted that allegations of illegal gratification in lieu of favour to some parties by granting them discount in deals are false and baseless. No bribe money has been recovered from the accused.
On the other hand, CBI opposed the bail plea saying that the accused was involved in corrupt and illegal activity in conspiracy with the other accused persons. His role is different from that of other accused as he was the public servant and he had pressurized the members of the price committee to get the desired discounts on petrochemical products.
( With inputs from ANI )
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