Dropsy accused granted bail

NEW DELHI, December 21: Oil dealer Kamal Kumar Aggarwal, who was arrested by the Delhi Police on the charge of adulterating mustard oil w...

NEW DELHI, December 21: Oil dealer Kamal Kumar Aggarwal, who was arrested by the Delhi Police on the charge of adulterating mustard oil which lead to the outbreak of dropsy in the Capital, has finally been granted bail by the Delhi High Court. The vacation judge, Justice D.K. Jain, today asked Aggarwal to furnish a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety of the same amount before the trial court. Aggarwal8217;s earlier bail pleas were rejected by both the trial court and Delhi High Court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI had accused Aggarwal, the owner of the Kohinoor brand of mustard oil, of supplying adulterated oil to the manufacturer of Dhara National Dairy Development Board in Noida and other dealers in eastern India.

Counsel for the trader, P.N. Lekhi, pleaded that while the others arrested for the same offence had been released on interim bail by the sessions court, Aggarwal8217;s bail plea had been rejected. He added that Aggarwal, who was arrested at the official residence of then Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma on August 28, was being made a scapegoat in the case.

Stay on AIIMS prof8217;s promotion lifted
The Delhi High Court has vacated its stay on the promotion of Professor U. Singh to the post of Head of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS.

The promotion was stayed on December 4 following a petition alleging irregularities and the petitioner, Dr Krishna Kumar Singh, was asked to continue in the position till further orders.

Justice K. Ramamoorthy had also asked the union health secretary to file his reply to the petitioner8217;s allegations within three weeks. The matter has been posted for next hearing on January 25 next year.

Appeal against circus company dismissed
The Delhi High Court today dismissed an appeal by Asian Circus challenging a single judge order dismissing its plea for restraining a rival circus company from setting up its tents at the Red Fort grounds.

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A division bench comprising justices Devinder Gupta and K S Gupta said the appeal was being rejected as the appellant had not been able to present before it the policy regarding allotment of places for circus shows.

Asian Circus counsel V N Saraf, however, contended that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi MCD, by a 1989 order, had laid down a policy on allotment of space for circus shows.

He said that according to the MCD order, applications were invited in the month of April every year and the allotment was decided by a draw of lots in favour of only one company. No paralell shows were allowed at a time, he added.

Saraf said that the MCD8217;s decision to allow Komal Circus to set up its tents at the Red Fort grounds adjoining Asian Circus was 8220;illegal8221; and contrary to earlier Supreme Court rulings.

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The bench, however, did not agree with his contention as Asian Circus had been allowed to perform in the area till December 31 whereas Komal Circus was supposed to start its shows from January 1, 1999.

Asian Circus pleaded that it had applied for an extension as it had started its shows from November 1 even though the permission was valid from September 18. According to them, the shows had been delayed due to a writ petition filed by Komal Circus in the High Court. The petition was later withdrawn.