Special judge Vishal Gogane granted relief to the trio after the ED did not oppose the bail.
New Delhi:
A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and her daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav in the land in exchange for railway jobs case.
Misa Bharti, the eldest child of RJD president Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, is a Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar.
Special judge Vishal Gogane granted the relief to the trio after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not oppose the bail pleas.
The Central Investigation Agency said that considering the serious nature of the case, strict conditions should be imposed on the accused while granting them bail.
“The reply has been filed by the ED on the regular bail applications filed by the accused persons Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav and Hridayanand Choudhary. The ED counsel has explained the nature of the allegations relating to money laundering. .And submitted that it is of serious nature and if the court considers granting bail to the accused persons, stringent conditions may be imposed,” the judge said.
Counsel for the accused said that since the investigating agency did not consider it necessary to arrest them during the investigation, the court now has no valid reason to deny them the relief of regular bail.
“It is a clear scenario that the accused persons were not knowingly arrested by the investigating agency. Therefore, there is no reason for the Court to apply any more stringent standard to judge whether the accused persons have absconded from trial or the witnesses are likely to be affected if he is accepted for regular bail. All bail applications are accepted,” the judge said.
The judge granted relief to the accused on a personal bond and surety bond of Rs 1 lakh each.
He directed them not to leave the country without the prior permission of the court and not to contact, influence or coerce any person or witnesses connected with the case.
“On receiving directions, the accused persons will appear before the court. The accused persons will inform the ED about their mobile phone number and address as well as any change therein,” the judge said. And fixed the next hearing of the case on March 16. , 2024.
The judge had granted him interim bail on February 9 after the ED said it needed time to put forward arguments on his regular bail pleas.
The accused appeared before the court after ED took cognizance of the charge sheet and issued summons to them.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
