The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bail granted in luxury car import case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 29, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Bail granted in luxury car import case

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to Sanjay Bhandari in the case of importing high-end cars almost duty-free under the Export Promotion of Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme meant for the hospitality industry and later selling the luxury vehicles to private persons which included politicians, film stars, lawyers and businessmen.

Justice S.K. Aggarwal granted bail to Bhandari when Additional Solicitor-General P.P. Malhotra submitted that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the investigating agency in the case, would not be able file a charge sheet within the 60 days stipulated under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

In his submission, Mr. Malhotra said: "Due to non-cooperation by the accused (Bhandari) and the enormity of the investigation, DRI would not be able to charge sheet Bhandari within the time which would end tomorrow (Saturday).''

"In view of the submission by Mr. Malhotra, the accused be released on bail on his furnishing a bail bond of Rs.5 lakhs with two sureties of Rs. 3 lakhs each in the trial court,'' Mr. Justice Aggarwal said.

Granting bail, Mr. Justice Aggarwal directed the accused to report at DRI's Delhi office once a month, appear before the investigating agency's Jaipur office as and when called to cooperate in the probe and surrender his passport to DRI.

Besides, the accused would not leave the country without prior permission of the trial court and would not tamper with evidence, Mr. Justice Aggarwal ruled.

Bhandari was arrested in August this year for allegedly causing a loss of around Rs. 10 crores to the exchequer by misusing the scheme.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi