Kalmadi gets bail after nine months in jail

IANS

New Delhi, 19 Jan 2012: The Delhi High Court Thursday granted bail to Suresh Kalmadi, MP and former chief of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, accused in a corruption case related to the 2010 sporting event.

His aide V.K. Verma was also given bail. The court allowed bail to Kalmadi on a personal bond of Rs.5 lakh and surety of the like amount.

Kalmadi was arrested April 26 last year for his alleged role in awarding a contract for installing the Timing-Scoring-Result system to Swiss Times Omega at an exorbitant cost of Rs.141 crore, allegedly causing a loss of over Rs.95 crore to the public exchequer.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had opposed the bail of the two accused.
Kalmadi and Verma moved the court for bail on the observation of the Supreme Court in the 2G case that "bail should be the rule and jail an exception".

The trial court in June last year rejected Kalmadi’s bail plea, after which he approached the high court.

The accused individuals and two companies in the case were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery, and booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.