Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the bail plea of jailed MP Suresh Kalmadi, accused in a corruption case related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Citing the Supreme Court ruling that “bail should be the rule and jail an exception”, Kalmadi moved his plea before the high court, following which Justice Mukta Gupta issued a notice to the CBI seeking its response by Jan 6, 2012.

A trial court had earlier in June rejected Kalmadi’s bail plea, after which he approached the high court. The case relates to irregularities in awarding a Games-related contract to a Swiss firm.

Senior counsel Sushil Kumar, arguing on behalf of Kalmadi, sought bail for him, saying Kalmadi’s custody was no longer required in the case as the CBI Nov 3 informed the special court that the investigation is complete.

Kumar submitted that Kalmadi has been in custody since April 26 and a charge sheet has already been filed.

“The trial would take a long time as a foreign firm, Swiss Timing Omega, is also an accused in the case and it has not yet appeared before the special court hearing the case,” he said.

Kalmadi’s counsel requested for early hearing of the bail plea, saying the court should hear it in December. “It need not go into the merits of the case,” Kumar said.

He submitted that the Supreme Court, granting bail to five accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case, had observed that “bail is the rule and jail is an exception”.

However, Justice Gupta replied that the merits of each case have to be looked into.

Kalmadi, chief of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, was arrested April 26 for his alleged role in awarding the contract for installing the Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) system to Swiss Times Omega at an exorbitant cost of Rs.141 crore, allegedly causing a loss of over Rs.95 crore to the public exchequer.

The CBI in its first charge sheet in the case against Kalmadi and 10 others described him as a prime accused and the mastermind in the case.

The accused officials and two companies were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery, and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Kalmadi, Organising Committee joint director general (Sport) A.S.V. Prasad and deputy director general (Procurement) Surjit Lal were arrested April 26 and sent to Tihar Jail.