CBI pleads in court for refusal of bail to Bhardwaj

Opposing the contentions made by ‘on-the-run’ Chandigarh JMIC S.S. Bhardwaj for grant of pre-arrest bail, the CBI, in its reply fi...

Opposing the contentions made by ‘on-the-run’ Chandigarh JMIC S.S. Bhardwaj for grant of pre-arrest bail, the CBI, in its reply filed before a local court today, maintained that no bail should be granted to Bhardwaj since he was required for custodial interrogation.

Justifying the plea, the CBI stated that Bhardwaj’s presence was pertinent for confronting the co-accused and other suspects in the case. The court has fixed May 21 as the next date of hearing.

The investigating agency stated that Bhardwaj did not have any respect for law and it suspected he might have tampered with crucial evidence besides influencing witnesses.

Story continues below this ad

Challenging Bhardwaj’s plea that he was out of station on May 9 and 10, the CBI contended that he was apprehended on May 10 at his official residence in presence of L.R. Roojam, District and Sessions Judge (Vigilance), Punjab, besides independent witnesses but secretly escaped.

In a four-page reply submitted by R. Upasak, DSP, the CBI said action against Sessions Judge, Jalandhar, R.M. Gupta and Bhardwaj was initiated following a complaint from Gurwinder Singh of Kartarpur and before proceeding in the case, prior authorisation was obtained from the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana HC.