I-T officer,bank manager denied bail in corruption case

Upholding verdict of lower courts,the Gujarat High Court on Friday rejected bail pleas moved by a Gandhidham-based Income Tax officer and the manager of the Limbdi (Surendranagar) branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in connection with some anti-corruption cases.

In his verdict,Justice Z K Saiyed maintained that Income Tax officer Rajendra Singhal and bank manager Bhupendrasinh Gohil cannot be let out as a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation in this connection was underway. CBI counsel Yogesh Ravani submitted that the CBI has enough evidence against the duo and that if granted bail,they would try to use their positions to influence the key witnesses.

The CBI had arrested Singhal and Gohil in December 2008 and January. While Singhal was nabbed when he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh,Gohil was caught by CBI sleuths for accepting a bribe of Rs 17,000.