Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) A special CBI court here on Wednesday rejected the agency’s plea for the remand of two IRS officers and four others held in a corruption case and released them on bail after accepting the defence’s contention of illegal arrest.
The CBI’s remand application stated that one of the officers, Chandrapal Singh Chauhan, posted as joint development commissioner, was getting an extension by paying hefty bribes to higher-ups.
The probe agency claimed to have recovered luxury cars and expensive watches from Chauhan’s residence and property documents.
The court directed the accused to cooperate with the CBI investigation.
The anti-corruption bureau unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested IRS officers- Chandrapal Singh Chauhan and Varawantkar Hanumantrao, posted at SEEPZ-SEZ, Mumbai, for their alleged involvement 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.
After the registration of an FIR, police searched the SEEPZ-SEZ office in Andheri, leading to the arrest of the IRS officers and other accused between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The accused were produced before special CBI judge S M Menjoge on Wednesday afternoon.
The Central probe agency sought the remand of the accused to unearth the crime, which was opposed by defence lawyers.
Defence lawyers, including Rahul Agarwal, opposed the remand plea contending that the arrest was illegal.
They argued the accused were not provided grounds for the arrest despite being asked, either in writing or orally.
The accused persons were produced before the court 24 hours after their arrest which amounted to the contravention of their fundamental rights, the defence argued.
The court accepted the submissions of the defence and rejected the police’ application for remand, releasing the accused on bail.
The CBI’s remand application stated that Chauhan was getting an extension by paying hefty bribes to higher-ups. It claimed that documents of 27 immovable properties worth crores were found at his residence, while luxury cars and expensive watches were recovered.
The CBI nabbed one Manoj Joglekar from Andheri office who admitted to collecting bribes at the direction of the officers.
The CBI recovered three bags from Joglekar containing 22 envelopes stashed with bribe money belonging to the SEEPZ-SEZ officers.
According to the CBI, Rs 60,000 was available with Joglekar when he was arrested. PTI AVI NSK
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