New Delhi, The Delhi High Court has granted bail to former Director General of Health Services Dr Vatsala Aggarwal and ex-head of the office of the Central Procurement Agency Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga in an alleged corruption case involving the procurement of medical equipment, medicines and hospital supplies for Delhi government hospitals.
“Pre-trial detention cannot be employed as a means of compelling an accused to produce documents which he is alleged to have made away with. It is undoubtedly a matter for trial to decide as to who removed the files and with what intent. At this stage, the bail cannot be withheld as a form of pre-trial punishment,” stated the court.
Ranga was arrested on June 18 and Aggarwal on June 27.
The court stated that the non-recovery of “missing tender files” or mobile phones did not warrant their continued detention as the files had not been found despite custody of several months and search of eight premises.
Justice Sachin Datta, in an order passed on November 6, observed that the Anti-Corruption Bureau ‘s case was based on official records that have already been substantially seized, and pendency of further investigation with respect to examination of the financial trail, the role of other persons, and forensic reports, etc., did not necessitate the continued custody of the two accused persons. The court observed that the trial will take a considerable time in the present case as the charges were yet to be framed and further investigation was contemplated. The court imposed several conditions for bail on the two accused, including that they will surrender their passports, not leave Delhi NCR or the country without permission, and cooperate with the investigation, etc.
“Considering the totality of circumstances, this court is therefore inclined to grant bail to the applicants.
Accordingly, the present applications are allowed,” Justice Datta said.
