NEW DELHI, Mar 4:
Former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, an accused in airhostess Geetika Sharma suicide case, was today granted bail by a local court, which restrained him from leaving Delhi.
Additional Sessions Judge Yashwant Kumar allowed the bail plea of Kanda while directing him to furnish a personal bond of Rs five lakh with two sureties of the like amount.
The court, meanwhile, directed Kanda not to leave Delhi without its permission and also asked him to surrender his passport.
The police, during the hearing, had opposed the bail plea of the politician, saying he may influence witnesses and tamper with the evidence.
However, the prosecution contention was opposed by the counsel for Kanda who had told the judge that he will abide by the court’s order in case he is granted relief.
Kanda had approached the court on February 17 seeking bail on the ground that he has to look after his ailing wife.
He had said he is under judicial custody for the last 18 months and the probe into the case has also been completed.
Kanda’s counsel had also told the court that the charges of sexual exploitation has been dropped against him by the Delhi High Court and earlier bail applications of his client were rejected on the ground that there were serious charges of sexual exploitation against him.
Kanda had surrendered before the police on August 18, 2012 while Aruna Chadha, Kanda’s employee and co-accused in the case, was arrested on August 8, 2012.
The high court had recently granted bail to Chadha.
The trial in the case had begun on May 27, last year when the court recorded the statements of eight witnesses, including police personnel and the doctor who had conducted the postmortem of the victim.
Chadha and Kanda are accused of abetting the suicide of the 23-year-old former airhostess who was earlier employed in Kanda’s MDLR airlines.
Both the accused have also been charged with forgery for cheating and harming the reputation of the victim.
The airhostess was found dead on August 5, 2012 at her Ashok Vihar residence in northwest Delhi. In her suicide note, she had said she was ending her life due to “harassment” by Kanda and Chadha. (PTI)
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