BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, who along with his wife Jagriti Singh is accused in the case of murder of their maid, was on Friday granted interim bail till May 20 by a Delhi court.
Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma allowed the bail plea of Mr. Dhananjay, a sitting MP from Jaunpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh, on a personal bond of Rs. 1 lakh and a surety of the like amount.
The court brushed aside the contention of the Delhi Police that Mr. Dhananjay wanted to campaign for Lok Sabha elections and he was taking undue benefit of illness of his father to seek bail.
“Earlier also on one occasion, the accused had been granted one week’s interim bail by the Supreme Court to file his nomination papers which was further extended for one more day by the Delhi High Court. Hence, even if it is presumed that the accused shall also campaign for his own Lok Sabha elections besides looking after his ailing father then this fact shall not cause any prejudice to the case of the prosecution in any manner and also there shall be no threat to the prosecution witnesses as the accused will not be available in Delhi during this period and will be available only in his Lok Sabha constituency,” the court said.
The court also took note of the verification report regarding treatment of Mr. Dhananjay’s father and said Raj Dev Singh, father of the accused, has been admitted to a hospital in Lucknow.
During the arguments, Mr. Dhananjay’s counsel N. Hariharan and S.P.M. Tripathi argued that the accused should be granted interim bail as he has to look after his ailing father.
The court said, “Keeping in view the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, accused Dhanajay Singh is admitted to interim bail till May 20 subject to his furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 1 lakh with one surety in like amount.”
The couple were arrested on November 5, last year in connection with the death of their 35-year-old maid Rakhi Bhadra, a resident of West Bengal. Ms. Jagriti, a dental surgeon at a government hospital, is presently in jail under judicial custody.
Mr. Dhananjay was chargesheeted for various offences under the IPC, including alleged destruction of evidence and abatement of the offences of murder and attempt to murder.
Ms. Jagriti was chargesheeted for offences under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 344 (wrongfully confining for 10 or more days), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC.
The police, in its charge sheet, had alleged that Ms. Jagriti used to “mercilessly beat” her three domestic helps and had “compelled” them to work by holding them captive.
The maid’s body, with injury marks on her legs, chest and arms, was recovered from Mr. Dhananjay’s South Avenue residence here in the evening of November 4, 2013.
Earlier, the police had chargesheeted Mr. Dhananjay in a separate case for allegedly repeatedly raping a 42-year-old railway employee for nearly four years.
