New Delhi:
An alleged middleman, arrested in the Election Commission bribery case, on Wednesday sought bail in a special court in New Delhi on the ground of parity with AIADMK (Amma) faction leader T T V Dhinakaran.
The police, however, opposed the bail plea of Sukesh Chandrashekar, saying he was involved in 21 cases, majority of which are related to the offence of cheating.
Public prosecutor Balbir Singh claimed the police has recovered a CD containing the alleged telephonic conversations between Chandrashekar and Dhinakaran. He said Chandrashekar promised Dhinakaran that he will not only arrange the symbol for his faction but also fix the poll date as per certain auspicious astrological time at the behest of the AIADMK (Amma) leader.
Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry after hearing the arguments reserved for June 9 the order on the application.
Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, who appeared for Chandrashekar in his second bail plea, claimed that if Dhinakaran, for whose benefit the alleged offence was committed, was granted the relief, the same should also be applied to his client.
“The persons for whose benefit the alleged offence was committed, were granted bail. There was no confessional statement of Chandrashekar as claimed by the police. It’s only a disclosure statement.
“The police claimed that if Chandrashekar, an influential person, was released on bail, he may try to tamper with the evidence. Dhinakaran, who was more influential, has already been released on bail,” Aggarwal argued.
The counsel contended that police is yet to identify the public servant, who was said to be lured by the accused.
Public prosecutor Singh, however, opposed the bail plea saying apart from the CD, the agency has also recovered Rs 1.3 crore cash and fake MP, MLA ID cards from the possession of the accused.
Chandrashekar, who was arrested on April 16, had claimed that he was a “scapegoat” and had been “falsely implicated” in the case.
The court had dismissed his earlier bail application on the ground that he could tamper with evidence.
Dhinakaran, his close aide Mallikarjuna, suspected hawala operators Nathu Singh and Lalit Kumar have been granted bail.
Dhinakaran was arrested here on the night of April 25 after four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe Election Commission (EC) officials for the symbol.
His faction had hoped to obtain the symbol for the bypoll to the R K Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu, which was later cancelled by the EC after the alleged irregularities were reported.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who represented the constituency.
The EC had frozen the AIADMK’s symbol after the two factions of the party—one led by Dhinakaran’s aunt Sasikala and the other by former chief minister O Panneerselvam— staked a claim to it.
Mallikarjuna was arrested for allegedly facilitating a Rs 50-crore deal between Dhinakaran and Chandrashekar.
Dhinakaran has been accused of arranging the money from undisclosed sources and getting it transferred from Chennai to Delhi through illegal channels.
Also read: AIADMK symbol case: Court grants bail to 2 suspected hawala operators
Also read: AIADMK symbol case: Special court rejects middleman's bail plea
