Orissa HC grants bail to IAS officer in corruption case

The Orissa High Court today granted bail to senior IAS officer Vinod Kumar, arrested in a corruption case, and directed the vigilance court to set the bail conditions.

Justice J P Das accepted the bail application of Kumar who was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment by the vigilance court and arrested on Friday.

The special vigilance court in Bhubaneswar had also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Kumar in the 2001 case.

Justice Das today directed the vigilance court to set the conditions as it deemed fit before releasing the jailed officer on bail.

For a default appeal memo, the high court had last week adjourned the case to today.

The court also granted bail to co-convict Purna Chandra Dash in the case. Three others involved in the case were granted bail by the high court earlier.

Last month, the special vigilance court in Bhubaneswar found Kumar guilty of financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 55 lakh during his tenure as managing director of Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation in 2000.

The 1989 batch IAS officer is currently posted as an officer on special duty in the state's higher education department.