NEW DELHI, July 16:
A Delhi court today dismissed the bail plea of businessman Abhishek Verma’s Romanian wife, who was arrested with him for allegedly receiving money from a Swiss arms firm to stall blacklisting proceedings against it by the Indian government.
Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Jain rejected the bail application of newly-wed Ancia Maria Neascu, who was arrested with Verma on June 8 and is presently in judicial custody.
“After hearing arguments from the CBI and the counsel for the accused, the bail application of Ancia Maria Neascu is dismissed. The bail order is being passed without being influenced by any document,” the court said.
Verma and his wife are currently lodged in the Tihar Jail and are in judicial custody till July 18.
Verma is also an accused in the Naval War Room leak case in which commercial naval secrets were leaked to foreign companies. Ravi Shankaran, kin of former naval chief Arun Prakash, is also an accused in this case.
In the present case, Verma has been accused of taking USD 530,000 from Rheinmetall Air Defence AG (RAD) for using his influence to stall the blacklisting proceedings initiated by the government against it after the Ordnance Factory Board scam had surfaced.
Ancia’s counsel Vijay Aggarwal had sought bail on the ground that she is a woman and the offence for which she has arrested carries a maximum punishment of five years in case of conviction.
The CBI, however, had opposed her bail plea saying the investigation is still going on in the case.
The CBI has booked Verma, his company and other unnamed persons under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, relating to giving bribe to influence public servants. If convicted, the offences carry a punishment of six months to five year in jail.
The court had earlier extending the judicial custody of the couple saying it cannot ignore the fact that in modern world, corruption has become “very very sophisticated mechanism” which may have global implications and dimensions in certain cases. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel