Says granting bail will hamper investigations
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 25: In a significant judgment, Special Judge Anti Corruption (CBI Cases) Jammu Sanjay Parihar has rejected bail applications of Sumit Khajuria, Chief Engineer in Northern Railways, presently on deputation with Konkan Railways Corporation Limited, and Rajesh Kumar Jain, Director of M/s Paras Railtech Pvt Ltd, both of whom were arrested by the CBI on February 9 for accepting and giving bribe respectively to the tune of Rs 9,42,500.
“It is true that given the nature of offence, the basic rule may be bail and jail is an exception. But the court can’t lose sight of the fact that corruption is not only a punishable offence but also undermines human rights, indirectly violating them and systematic corruption is a human right violation in itself as it leads to systematic economic crimes. The court is called upon to exercise discretion of bail in a judicious manner and not as a matter of course and had it been an ordinary case of trap then the things could be different,” the Judge observed while denying bail to the petitioners.
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Pranav Kohli, Senior Advocate with Aftab Malik and Anany Gupta, Advocates appeared for Khajuria while Sunil Sethi, Senior Advocate and Mohsin Bhat appeared for Rajesh Kumar Jain.
“The crime has been detected after thorough surveillance but recovery of the bribe amount has led to further seizure of huge cash from the premises of Khajuria for which trail is required to be ascertained as to how such an amount landed into his possession. The allegation that Khajuria was already paid Rs 10 lakh in October 2024 by Jain which forms part of Rs 73.11 lakh recovered from the house of Chief Engineer following subsequent raids after the arrest showed that there has been constant interaction between the accused to indulge in corrupt practices which is at the detriments of public exchequer,” the Judge Sanjay Parihar wrote in the judgment.
He said the magnitude of corruption in our public life is incompatible with democratic values. Therefore, a duty is cast on the court to exercise its discretion in a judicious way so as to do the balancing act with personal liberty of the accused nature of allegations levelled and investigation undertaken so far. So, he said, granting bail to petitioners at this stage would not only hamper the investigations but in every likelihood they may prevail upon the witnesses thereby making fight against corruption a meaningless exercise.
“in view of this, the bail applications are held premature and even petitioners have not been able to carve out a strong prima facie case warranting granting of bail in their favour. Therefore, both the applications are rejected,” the court said.
The judge agrees with the Public Prosecutor that this is not a simple case of trap as projected by the counsel for applicants saying the police report actually disclosed the involvement of petitioners though their voice samples have been obtained and other accused and public servant involved in the conspiracy are required to be unearthed. This will ensure that larger conspiracy angle is brought to the fore.
While Sumit Khajuria holds the position of senior officer in Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line project, Rajesh Kumar Jain is one of the Directors of M/s Paras Railtech Pvt Ltd and, thus, both of them hold important position in their respective fields and given the investigating being still at infancy, there is every likelihood that their release on bail at this stage may adversely impact the investigations.
The corruption was given by Jain to Khajuria for clearance of pending bills and revising the estimates related to removal of tunnel muck.
The CBI sought rejection of the bail applications on the ground that recorded telephonic conversations and other relevant evidence indicated towards hatching criminal conspiracy among the accused for commission of offence of corruption for illegal personal gain.
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