A Delhi court Friday granted bail to corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar in a money laundering case in which it was alleged that his non-profit organisation M/s Advantage India received foreign funding illegally. Observing that the “court could not be convinced how the further incarceration of the accused will help further investigation”, Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar ordered Talwar’s release from Tihar jail on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh and a surety of the like amount. Talwar was deported from Dubai on January 31 last year and has been in jail since then. The CBI and ED booked him in four cases. Earlier, he had secured bail in three of them and is now set to walk out of jail. Judge Kuhar also imposed a condition on Talwar that he will surrender his passport, if not deposited, and furnish his residential address to the Investigating Officer. “He (Talwar) shall furnish his active mobile phone number and e-mail ID to the IO and shall be available if his personal appearance is required for the purpose of any enquiry or investigation pertaining to the case,” the order reads. The court’s order came on Talwar’s plea for bail on the ground that the probe is over and that there was no chance that the investigation could be hampered. ED’s Special Public Prosecutor Amit Mahajan and Nitesh Rana had argued that Talwar was accused of serious economic offences and may flee from justice if relief is granted. Judge Kuhar, however, observed, “So far as flight risk is concerned the apprehension is without any substance moreover fetters can be put on his liberty by depositing his passport, by issuing Look-Out Notice etc thus, putting a restriction on his travel abroad and his activities can be monitored. The ED has not been able to show any reasonable ground to say that he will tamper with evidence, moreover evidence collected is documentary.”
