New Delhi:
A court in Delhi has granted bail to Congress’s Karti Chidambaram aide in the alleged “bribe for visa case” after 24 days in custody. Noting that the “investigating agency has tried to play smart” while arresting Bhaskararaman, the court observed that “it appears to this court as if the investigating agency from the beginning had an intention to arrest Bhaskararaman in this case, rather than first interrogating him…”
Bhaskararaman’s counsel had told the court that the search operation at his residence started at 7.30 am on May 17 and went on till 6 pm, after which he was taken to the agency and a notice was served on him. Late in the evening, he was placed under arrest.
In its bail order, the court said, “the accused was virtually and physically in custody of CBI officials at the time of its service and thus, he had no liberty to have recourse to the legal remedies or to surrender himself in the court of a Judicial Magistrate, as offered in the said notice.”
The court further said though the alleged offence was committed in 2011 and the recovery of alleged 93,000 incriminating e¬mails between Karti Chidambaram, Bhaskararaman and others took place in 2017, the court said, “even if the time for taking action is calculated from the year 2017, the registration of present FIR is apparently delayed.”
Citing lack of evidence, the court granted bail to Bhaskararaman in the case with conditions that he will cooperate with the investigation and will not influence the witnesses or tamper with evidence.