Patiala House court adjourns hearing of Rajendra Kumar bail plea till Saturday

The Patiala House Court on Thursday decided to adjourn further hearing of a bail plea related to the corruption case linked to suspended Principal Secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Rajendra Kumar till Saturday (July 23).

The court ordered an adjournment after it was informed the public prosecutor is not in the national capital.

Lawyers representing Kumar also reportedly appealed to the court to order the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to defreeze their client's bank accounts, as he is facing a paucity of funds.

The court is reported to have questioned the CBI counsel as to why was there a need to freeze Kumar's accounts when it was not a case of property dispute.

According to informed sources, the court is likely to pass an order to defreeze Kumar's bank accounts at around 5 p.m. today.

It may be recalled that Kumar had moved a Delhi court for bail in a corruption case last Thursday, and Special Judge Arvind Kumar had posted the matter for hearing on July 21.

Special Judge Kumar had last week sent Rajendra Kumar and six of his co-accused - R. S. Kaushik and G.K. Nanda, present and former managing directors of public sector company Intelligent Communication Systems India Limited (ICSIL) respectively; Tarun Sharma, a Deputy Secretary in the office of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal; Dinesh Kumar Gupta and Sandeep Kumar, directors on the board of private company Endeavour System Private Limited (ESPL); and Ashok Kumar, a private individual - to judicial custody after the CBI counsel submitted that further police remand was not required.

The CBI produced them before the court after expiry of police remand. Mr. Kumar and four of his co-accused remained in police custody for eight days, while the other two were in custody for three days.