Kejriwal’s kin withdraws bail plea in Delhi high court

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday allowed a contractor, who was arrested by the anti-corruption branch (ACB) in connection with a construction scam, to withdraw his bail plea.

Justice P.S. Teji allowed Vinay Bansal, who is in custody since May 10, to withdraw the bail application after his advocate said the arguing counsel was not available and they also wished to add certain fresh grounds. Mr Bansal, the son of the late brother-in-law of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, is currently in judicial custody.

Advocate B.S. Joon, appearing for Mr Bansal, submitted that after adding certain fresh grounds for seeking bail, they would file the application before a sessions court and if the need arises, will move the high court.

Mr Bansal had earlier moved the high court after a trial court dismissed his bail application on May 17 on grounds that the allegations levelled against him were grave. His counsel had sought the relief claiming that Mr Bansal was not responsible for the alleged offence.and no offence was made out against him under the provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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 PWD officials who were allegedly involved in the case were still being interrogated and probe was at a 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 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.