Court grants bail to B K Bansal in graft case

A special court today granted regular bail to Director General, Corporate Affairs, B K Bansal, whose wife and daughter committed suicide following a CBI raid on their house last month, in a graft case.
Special CBI Judge Gurdeep Singh granted bail to the accused on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and a surety of the like amount.
Bansal, who was arrested on July 16, was earlier granted interim bail by the court after the death of the two. He surrendered on August 22, following which he was sent to judicial custody till September 2.
While seeking bail, Bansal's counsel had said the accused had cooperated during the interim bail period and no purpose would be served by keeping him in custody.

Countering CBI's contention, the counsel had submitted that while on interim bail, Bansal never tried to influence the probe or any witness.
He had also said that all evidences have been recovered from his place and investigation was almost complete in the case, which was mostly based on "documentary evidences".

The plea for regular bail was filed on the ground that he was already on interim bail since July 20 and, during this period, his conduct has not been questionable.
The CBI had, however, opposed the bail plea, saying that if he was granted the relief, the "high-ranking official" could hamper probe.

It had told the court that there were "serious apprehensions" that the bureaucrat may influence witnesses as he was "very influential".
The court had granted him relief after his wife Satyabala (58) and daughter Neha (28) allegedly hung themselves from ceiling fans in separate rooms at their residence in Nilkanth Apartments in East Delhi's Madhu Vihar on July 19.
Earlier, Bansal had alleged before the court that CBI had compelled his wife and daughter to take the extreme step.
Bansal, an additional secretary-rank officer in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, was arrested on July 16 for allegedly accepting bribe from a prominent pharmaceutical company.

His wife and daughter had left separate notes, saying the CBI raid had caused "great humiliation" and they did not want to live after that. They, however, held nobody responsible for their death.