The Hindu : Remand of IT official extended

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 28, 2003

National

National

Remand of IT official extended

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MAY 27. A Delhi court today extended for seven days the police remand of Anurag Vardhan, a Deputy Commissioner of the Income Tax department, now being interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the transfers racket case.

The CBI today produced Vardhan and S. Padmanabhan, another accused in the case, in the court of the Special Judge, Prem Kumar, at the end of their four-day police remand.

The Special Judge sent Padmanabhan to judicial custody as the CBI did not press for the extension of his remand.

Padmanabhan had accompanied R. Perumalsamy, erstwhile personal assistant to the former Union Minister of State for Finance, Gingee Ramachandran, to Anurag's office allegedly to collect the bribe from the Income Tax officer.

Seeking extension of police custody for Vardhan, counsel for the CBI, A.S. Cheema, submitted that the agency needs to investigate not only the role of Vardhan in fixing his transfer but also transfers of his other colleagues.

Mr. Cheema submitted that the transcripts of conversations between the accused and the Chennai-based chartered account and alleged kingpin in the racket, A. Krishnamurthy, clearly showed that the accused had struck a cash-for-transfer deal not only for himself but also for his other colleagues.

Allowing the CBI request, Mr. Kumar said he felt that further interrogation of the accused for seven days was essential for justice.

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