HC seeks ACB response of contractor's bail plea

The Delhi High Court today sought the response of Delhi's Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) on the bail plea of a contractor, arrested in connection with a construction scam.

Justice S P Garg asked the probe agency, ACB, to file its response on the bail application of Vinay Bansal, who was arrested on May 10, and listed the matter for further hearing on May 31.

Bansal, the son of the late brother-in-law of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is currently in judicial custody.

Bansal moved the high court after a trial court dismissed his bail application on May 17 on the ground that the allegations levelled against him were grave.

Senior advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Bansal, sought the relief claiming that his client was not responsible for the alleged offence and no offence was made out against him under the provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

He said the contract work was already complete and there was no complaint on the quality of work and added that the payment was made for the work done and no extra money was paid to the accused.

The counsel asked why the police wanted to keep Bansal in custody as the evidence was documentary in nature and have already been collected.

The trial court, while rejecting the bail plea, had accepted the submissions of the investigating officer that despite the registration of the FIR almost a year ago, the accused has not joined the investigation and not cooperated during custodial interrogation.

It had also noted that the offences alleged against the accused were not only of cheating but also of preparation of forged and fabricated bill for the purpose of release of contract amount from the Delhi government's Public Works Department (PWD).

The court had noted that the PWD officials who were allegedly involved in the case were still being interrogated and investigation was still at a very crucial juncture.

According to an FIR lodged in May last year, Bansal and his father were working on a project of over Rs four crore. After receiving a payment of Rs three crore, they showed fake bills of Rs one crore for the procurement of steel from a company that was "non-existent".

On being produced before the trial court on May 10, Bansal had fainted and collapsed in the courtroom that day and the magistrate had not remanded him to police custody as he was not medically fit.

Three FIRs, including one against a company run by Bansal, were registered by the ACB in this case on May 9 last year.

Three companies, including Renu Constructions (owned by the Bansals, Kamal Singh and Pawan Kumar), were named in the FIRs.

In a complaint, Rahul Sharma, the founder of Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation (RACO), had alleged that Kejriwal and PWD minister Satyendra Jain had misused their office for grant of contracts to Bansal. However, they were not named in the FIR.

RACO had alleged that a firm linked to Bansal was involved in financial irregularities in building a drainage system in north-west Delhi.