Syndicate Bank case: Neeraj Singal seeks bail, CBI to respond

Special CBI judge asked the agency to respond to Singal's plea on September 17

A special court today sought the response of CBI on the bail application filed by Bhushan Steel Limited Vice Chairman and Managing Director Neeraj Singal, who along with others including Syndicate Bank CMD Sudhir Kumar Jain, was arrested in a bribery case.

Special CBI judge Swarana Kanta Sharma asked the agency to respond to Singal's plea on September 17.

Singal was arrested by CBI on August 7, hours after the court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him and absconding accused Purshottam Totlani. Singal is currently in judicial custody along with other arrested accused.

In his bail plea, Singal said he has been in custody for over a month in connection with the case and his business was being affected due to his absence, court sources said.

The court had yesterday dismissed the bail pleas of two co-accused, Arun Aggarwal and Vijay Pahuja, observing that the probe into the case was at a "crucial stage".

S K Jain, CMD of Prakash Industries Limited Ved Prakash Agarwal, Singal and various other accused were arrested by the CBI in connection with the case. The arrested accused are currently in judicial custody till September 11.

They were arrested in connection with two separate graft cases in which CBI had booked them under the Prevention of Corruption Act and for the charge of criminal conspiracy under the IPC.

On August 2, CBI had arrested some of the accused in connection with the case and claimed to have recovered Rs 21 lakh in cash from Jain's residence besides gold worth Rs 1.68 crore and documents of fixed deposits of up to Rs 63 lakh.

The agency has filed two cases against Jain, accusing him of receiving a bribe of Rs 50 lakh through conduits and abusing his official position to enhance the credit limits of some companies in violation of laid-down procedures.