AIADMK symbol case: Middleman's aide gets bail

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to Narendra Kumar Jain, a close aide of middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, in connection with the alleged bribing of Election Commission of India (ECI) officials over ownership of the two leaves symbol of Tamil Nadu's ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party.

The high court also directed Jain to furnish a personal bond of Rs. 50,000 along with a surety of the same amount.

Jain had allegedly received Rs. 2 crore and handed it over to the other person.

"Investigation had revealed that Jain has not retained the money, but only acted as a carrier of the amount," the high court said.

Earlier on January 11, the Delhi High Court dismissed a bail plea filed by accused middleman Sukesh Chandrasekhar in connection with the case.

On December 14, sidelined All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader T T V Dhinakaran was also named in the charge sheet along with others in the 'two leaves' symbol bribery case.

During the hearing, it was revealed that the Delhi Police had recently filed a supplementary charge sheet before the Tis Hazari court and named Dhinakaran, Sukesh Chandrashekhar, Mallikarjuna, Nathu Singh, Pulkit Kundra, B Kumar, Lalit Kumar, Jai Vikram Haran and Narendra Jain as the accused.

Dhinakaran has been charged under Sections 120 B (Criminal Conspiracy) and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (Destruction of Evidence)

The case pertains to an alleged attempt by Dhinakaran to bribe Election Commission officials for securing AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol for the party faction led by his aunt V.K. Sasikala.

The Delhi Police had arrested Chandrashekhar from a Delhi hotel with Rs 1.30 crore in cash and seized a BMW and a Mercedes car from him.