Railway bribery case: Court rejects bail plea of accused

A Delhi court today dismissed the bail plea of an accused in the Rs 10-crore railway bribery case in which ex-Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew was among those arrested.
Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma rejected the bail plea of Dharmender Kumar after CBI contended that his release could adversely affect probe which was in initial stages.
Dharmedra along with co-accused Vivek Kumar had allegedly delivered Rs 90 lakh, part of the Rs 10 crore bribe amount, to Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla in Chandigarh to get a plum post for a Railway Board official.
"Arguments heard. Bail application dismissed," the judge said.

Senior Public Prosecutor Akshay Gautam, appearing for CBI, opposed the bail plea of Dharmender saying he and co-accused Vivek were well aware of the purpose behind the delivery of money and to whom it was to be given and as such they were one of the conspirators in the case.
Considering the "gravity" of the offence, "it would be a travesty of justice to show mercy to them", the counsel for CBI said.

"Any leniency shown to them would be misplaced," he added.
Gautam also said that the CBI investigation is in its initial stages and a lot of things are yet to be unearthed.

"If they are granted bail, it would affect the probe of the agency," the prosecutor said.
He also said that the two 'couriers' had gone in two separate cars each with a bag containing Rs 45 lakh and the whole thing was well planned and organised and could not have been done without their knowledge.
Dharmendra's counsel said his client had no idea where exactly he had to deliver the money, to whom and for what purpose when he and Vivek had left Delhi for Chandigarh.