NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to the AIADMK (Amma) faction leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, and his close aide Mallikarjuna in connection with the Election Commission bribery case.
Special Judge Poonam Chaudhary granted the relief to the two, saying they were no longer required for custodial interrogation. The court directed them to furnish a personal bond of '5 lakh each and two sureties of the like amount.
While granting bail to the accused the court directed them not to try to influence the witnesses or tamper with evidence. It also observed that the public servants, who were to be allegedly lured, have not been identified.
The court has also asked them not to leave the country without its prior permission and asked them to surrender their passports. They were also asked to join the investigation as and when required by the probe agency.
Dhinakaran, who was arrested by Delhi Police Crime Branch on April 25, had sought bail on the ground that there was no reason to keep him in custody and no public servant was made an accused in the case, though he was booked on graft charges.
His plea was opposed by the police which had said he had conspired with others to undermine the sanctity of the electoral process through corrupt means and practices.
Mallikarjuna, who was also arrested on April 25, sought bail on the ground that no recovery was made at his instance and he had joined the investigation even though no summons were issued to him by the police. His bail application was also opposed by the police.
Alleged middleman in the case Sukesh and alleged hawala operator Nathu Singh are in judicial custody till June 12. Co-accused Lalit Kumar, who was also alleged to be a hawala operator, is in judicial custody till June 5. The court had on May 22 dismissed the bail plea of Sukesh saying it was not appropriate to grant him bail at this stage as it was a serious crime and he could tamper the evidence.
