The Delhi High Court on Friday, 12 January, granted anticipatory bail to Narendra Kumar Jain, in the case pertaining to the alleged bribing of the official Election Commission of India for the ownership of AIADMK's ‘two leaves’ symbol, ANI reported.
Jain is a close aide of middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who was denied bail by the HC on Thursday, 11 January.
According to ANI, Jain was also asked to furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 along with a surety.
The report quoted the HC as saying:
Investigation had revealed that Jain has not retained the money (Rs 2 crore), but only acted as a carrier of the amount.
On Thursday, Justice Mukta Gupta had rejected Chandrashekar's bail plea apprehending that he may tamper with evidence if released on bail.
The Delhi Police had opposed his bail plea saying his conduct, even while in custody, had shown scant respect for the law and he was a habitual offender with as many as 21 cases pending against him in various courts in the country.
However, Chandrashekar's lawyers had contended that he should be granted bail as other accused in the case including sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, his close aide Mallikarjuna and others were on bail.
Chandrashekar, who was arrested on 16 April 2017 was denied bail thrice by a trial court and once by the Delhi High Court.
On 14 July, the Delhi Police Crime Branch had filed a chargesheet alleging Chandrashekar had conspired with Dhinakaran to bribe the Election Commission officials to get the 'two leaves' symbol for the Sasikala-led AIADMK (Amma) faction.
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