The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of Lalit Bhanot, former secretary general of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee who has been accused of favouring a Swiss firm in according a contract and thereby allegedly causing a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the government exchequer.
Denying the respite, Justice Mukta Gupta noted that the court could not find favour with Bhanot’s argument that he was entitled to statutory bail because the CBI had failed to file a chargesheet in the case within the stipulated 60-day time following his arrest. The CBI, opposing this contention, had told the court that a fresh penal provision relating to forgery was invoked against Bhanot at a later stage and hence, the stipulated period of submitting the chargesheet was extended to 90 days. A permission from the trial court, CBI said, was obtained regarding the extended time frame.
A close aide of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi, Bhanot was arrested with director general V K Verma on February 23 for striking a Rs 107-crore deal with Swiss Timing Omega to procure the Timing, Scoring and Result system for the CWG.
In the chargesheet on May 20, CBI named Kalmadi, Bhanot, Verma and eight others, including two companies. Read More
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