New Delhi: A Delhi court granted Friday interim bail to former NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar and others in the INX Media corruption case.
Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar also granted relief to former OSD to Finance Minister Pradeep Kumar Bagga and former FIPB director Prabodh Saxena.
Former section officer of the FIPB unit in the Finance Ministry Ajeet Kumar Dung Dung, then under secretary in the FIPB unit Rabindra Prasad and former joint secretary (Foreign Trade) DEA Anup K Pujari were also granted interim bail by the court.
The court granted the bail to them on a personal bond of Rs 2,00,000 each and one surety of like amount.
It also issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and sought its reply on their bail applications.
Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram was also produced before the court during the proceedings in the case. He is currently in judicial custody in connection with the INX money laundering case of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The 74-year-old Congress leader has been granted bail in the INX Media corruption case lodged by CBI. The next hearing in the matter is on December 17.
The court had in October taken cognisance of a chargesheet filed by CBI in the INX Media corruption case against Chidambaram and 13 others, who are accused of various offences, including those under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The probe agency had claimed in the final report that Chidambaram ‘misused his official position’, in conspiracy with his son Karti and others, in granting approval to a FDI proposal of INX Media and INX ‘News Pvt Ltd’ in lieu of ‘illegal gratification’ in India and through offshore payments.
The court had summoned Karti and the 12 other accused in the case, November 29.
Besides Karti and Peter Mukerjea, who are currently on bail, and chartered accountant S Bhaskaraman, who is currently on anticipatory bail in the case, the court also summoned others, including various former and current public servants.
PTI