Bribery case: Special CBI court grants bail to SEEPZ official, says arrest 'not legal'

Mumbai: A day after a special CBI court noted that the arrest of two Indian Revenue Service officers and four others in an alleged bribery case was "not legal" and granted them bail, it gave bail to another accused, who is a senior SEEPZ-SEZ official, on the same grounds on Thursday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested seven persons, including three persons posted at Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) in Mumbai, in connection with the case.

On Wednesday, six of the accused, including IRS officers Chandrapal Singh Chauhan and Varawantkar Hanumantrao, were produced before the court for remand. Seventh accused SEEPZ Assistant Development Commissioner (ADC) Rekha Nair was produced before the court on Thursday.

Special CBI judge S M Menjoge, on both occasions, denied their custody to the probe agency, noting that their arrest was "not legal" and "not proper" as per the provisions of law. The accused have been released on bail.

Defence lawyers, including Rahul Agarwal and Jasmin Purani, had opposed the remand plea of IRS officers and other accused, contending that the accused were not provided grounds of arrest at the time of their arrest, even when asked upon, neither in written nor orally.

They had further contended that the accused persons were produced after the mandatory 24-hour period, all of which was in violation of their constitutional rights.

The court, in its order passed on Wednesday, noted that the case papers had loose sheets, which it said amounted to contravention of provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The court had further said the grounds of arrest were not mentioned properly in the arrest memo and that these were general in nature.

"I have come to the conclusion that the arrest of the accused is not legal," the judge said while releasing all the accused on bail.

The court further held that custodial interrogation was not required as the alleged bribe amount of Rs 61 lakh was seized along with all other documents.

In its order of Thursday, while granting bail to Nair, the court held that notice prior to arrest was not given and no sanction was taken.

The CBI had alleged that the accused IRS officers, posted at SEEPZ-SEZ, Mumbai, were involved in "collusive corruption" with other officers and private persons.

The accused were collecting undue advantage from the parties functioning from SEEPZ and other related parties in space allotment, disposal of imported goods not utilised in manufacturing, sale of duty-free imported goods without paying duty, engaging security persons and daily wagers and favouring civil contractors in lieu of monetary consideration, the CBI said.

The accused Chauhan, posted as joint development commissioner, was getting an extension by paying hefty bribes to higher-ups, the CBI claimed, adding that luxury cars and expensive watches have been recovered from Chauhan's residence along with property documents.