Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao and eight other accused in the Rs 3.5-crore Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) bribery case were yesterday granted bail by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Ajit Bharihoke.
While three accused - Rao and former Union ministers Satish Sharma and Buta Singh - were granted bail stating that there is no likelihood of their tampering with the evidence, six others - former Karnataka Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily and his then Cabinet colleagues H M Revanna and Ramalinga Reddy, V Rajeshwara Rao, MP and a relative of Narasimha Rao, and liquor barons B K Audikeshavalu and M Thimme Gowda - were given the facility as the alleged offences were not punishable with death or life sentence. The judge, however, directed all the accused not to try to contact any witness or tamper with evidence.
All the nine executed bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each and provided sureties of the same amount.
January 24 has been fixed for scrutiny of documents in the case.
