Bail for Kishan Kumar, praise for police

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 25. The Delhi High Court today granted anticipatory bail to the film actor Kishan Kumar, an accused in the cricket-match fixing case. However, at the same time the judge was all praise for the Delhi police for having brought the sordid affair to light.

``Having considered the totality of the circumstances and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I think that a case for grant of bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code has been made out,'' Mr. Justice M. S. A. Siddiqui said in his four-page order.

Kishan Kumar has been in judicial custody in connection with a Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) violation case connected with the match-fixing case. He got anticipatory bail in the conspiracy-cum-cheating case lodged by the Chankyapuri police.

The Judge concluded the hearing on the bail application in the pre-lunch session and passed the order at 3 p.m. Earlier, counsel for the petitioner, Mr. R. K. Anand, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Rajya Sabha Member, and Mr. Kirit Rawal, Additional Solicitor-General, together took 45 minutes to complete their argument.

``The petitioner, in the event of his arrest, shall be released on his furnishing a bail bond of Rs. 25,000 with one surety of like amount to the satisfaction of the officer affecting arrest,'' the order said.

The judge also put some conditions on the accused. One, he shall make himself available for police interrogation officers as and when required. Two, he shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer. Finally, the petitioner shall surrender his passport to the trial court within a week and he shall not leave India without previous permission of the trial court.

Initiating the argument, Mr. Anand challenged the Delhi police contention that a cheating case under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code was made out against his client.

However, Mr. Rawal opposed it and submitted that the offence committed by the accused was covered under Section 420. Both counsel cited Supreme Court judgments to buttress their respective contentions.

Though the judge did not make any observation on the applicability of the Section against the accused, he called for the police diary of the case to ascertain whether prima facie a cheating case under Section 420 was made out against Kishan Kumar.

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