Delhi Special court, following a verdict sending Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) Deputy Superintendent Police Devender Kumar and middleman Manoj Prasad to 14 days judicial custody, today reserved its verdict on Kumar’s bail plea in connection with bribery allegations involving Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
On October 22, Kumar was arrested on bribery allegations in connection to a case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, in which he was the investigating officer.
Asthana was also dissolved of all his responsibilities. Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of Gujarat cadre, is alleged to have demanded a bribe of Rs 5 crore from a Hyderabad-based businessman through two middlemen to help him get off the hook in the Moin Qureshi case. Both had alleged corruption on each other in connection with different cases.
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The CBI did not oppose Kumar’s bail petition. Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann said he would pass the order later in the day after final arguments in the case were completed.
The lawyer representing Kumar informed the court that every rule has been violated by the CBI in the case against him and pointed out the “irony” is that the person who followed the rule has been put behind bars.
In the bail application, Kumar stated that his arrest was “illegal” and urged the court to set him free. The application further stated that Kumar was ready to abide by the conditions imposed by the court while granting him bail and claimed that the CBI did not have valid search warrants when they raided his office and residence.
Responding to Kumar’s plea alleging that the seven mobile phones, an iPad and external hard drive seized from his house were tampered, CBI’s new investigating officer Satish Dagar informed the Special Court Tuesday that the seizure report had only one mobile phone listed.
