The Delhi high court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by a senior office bearer of the Bar Council of India (BCI), who was allegedly involved in a corruption case. The court pointed out that the accused may hamper investigations if he was granted relief.
Dismissing the bail plea of BCI vice-chairman Dhanapal Raj, Justice Hima Kohli said, “Having regard to the status of the petitioner, who is not only a member of the Tamil Nadu Bar Council but also the BCI vice chairman, there can be no doubt about the influence that he wields in the society in general and in the legal fraternity in particular.”
“The relief sought by the petitioner (Raj) in the present petition for grant of anticipatory bail may result in hampering the investigation and influencing the material witnesses whose statements are being recorded by CBI,” the court added. The CBI, the investigating agency in the case, had arrested R.S. Rana, a BCI member along with one Manish Tyagi, on December 20 last year for their alleged involvement in a corruption case.
Raj, a Chennai-based practising lawyer, however, was granted interim anticipatory bail for four weeks by the Madras high court, which expired on January 21.
Justice Kohli refused to grant him the bail, rejecting his plea that he had cooperated with the CBI in the probe.
“Mere grant of interim anticipatory bail to Raj by the Madras high court does not automatically entitle him to anticipatory bail in the present proceedings,” the court said.
According to CBI, a BCI team of Raj and Rana had inspected Ghaziabad-based Global College of Law last year and demanded an undisclosed sum of bribe for giving it a favourable report for its affiliation with the BCI. The Delhi HC has already granted bail to Tyagi while refusing the same to Rana.