Documents leak case: judicial custody of six accused extended

A Delhi court today extended till April 28 the judicial custody of six accused arrested in the case in which classified government documents were allegedly procured and passed on to others.
The judicial custody was extended after the CBI said that allegations against each of the accused were very serious in nature and their probe into the case was at an initial stage and various important witnesses are to be examined.
The agency also told Special CBI Judge S C Rajan that various other documents and evidence were yet to be collected and judicial custody of the accused be extended by another two weeks.

"...Considering the gravity of offence, the application (seeking extension of judicial custody) is allowed," the judge said.
Chartered Accountant Khemchand Gandhi, Paresh Chimanlal Budhdev, partner in Mumbai-based Chitale and Associates, three government servants -- Ashok Kumar Singh, Lala Ram Sharma and Daljeet Singh -- and Ram Niwas were produced before the court after the expiry of their judicial custody.
During the hearing, the agency said that they have already filed their replies on the bail pleas of Budhdev and Sharma, after which the court fixed it for arguments on April 20.
CBI had earlier told the court that a large number of "incriminating" documents have been seized during the probe and the accused were allegedly procuring and passing on classified documents to others.

Ashok Kumar Singh was working as under secretary in the Department of Disinvestment of the Finance Ministry, Lala Ram Sharma as a section officer in the Department of Economic Affairs and Daljeet Singh an upper division clerk in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.