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The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to a former Assistant Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Himachal Pradesh scholarship alleged bribery case, setting aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court's earlier decision that had refused him relief.
The order was delivered by a bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, which noted that the accused had already been chargesheeted, had spent substantial time in custody, and was expected to cooperate during trial. The apex court held that continued incarceration served no purpose once the investigation was complete. The Supreme Court overturned the High Court's decision and directed that the accused Vishal Deep be released on terms to be set by the Trial Court. The FIRs registered by the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch in Chandigarh on December 22, 2024, under Sections 7A and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Sections 61(2) and 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The allegations centre on a suspected bribery racket related to investigations into private educational institutions that received scholarship funds. The defence advocates argued that with the chargesheet filed, the accused's continued detention was no longer justified and amounted to unwarranted pre-trial punishment. Representing the CBI, Additional Solicitor General Raja Thakre and others opposed the bail plea, highlighting the seriousness of the allegations and calling it a coordinated misuse of authority. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier denied bail, observing that the allegations of demanding illegal gratification in exchange for manipulating investigations and influencing arrests "strike at the heart of institutional integrity." The High Court had also taken note of the alleged use of encrypted communication apps, creation of assumed identities and the use of family-owned vehicles, factors it viewed as suggestive of "deliberate and strategically engineered" conduct. (ANI)
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