Maid murder: Court grants two months interim bail to BSP MP

BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, who along with his wife Jagriti Singh have been chargesheeted in connection with murder of their maid, was today granted interim bail for two months by a Delhi court.

Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma granted interim bail to Dhananjay, a sitting MP from Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur constituency, on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties of the like amount.

However, despite getting interim bail, Dhananjay, who was arrested on November 5 last year, will have to remain in Tihar Jail under judicial custody as he has not been granted bail in a separate rape case in which he is facing trial.

During the arguments, Delhi Police opposed the bail plea of Dhananjay saying there was no new ground or change in circumstances for releasing him on bail.

The police, however, told the court that the two prime witnesses in the case have been provided security in pursuance to the order passed by a magisterial court last year.

Senior advocate Hariharan and advocate S P M Tripathi, who appeared for Dhananjay, argued that since the two key prosecution witnesses in the case had already been provided protection by police, there was no likelihood of him trying to intimidate them.

The defence counsel also argued that there was no possibility that the MP would tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses in the case.

They also said that Dhananjay has to look after his ailing father and as charge sheet has already been filed, no useful purpose would be served by keeping his client in custody.

Earlier, the court had directed police to apprise it about whether they have provided protection to the key witnesses in the case.