New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail to former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) chairperson Suresh Kalmadi on the surety of Rs 5 lakhs.

Besides Kalmadi, former OC director general V K Verma, who is also an accused in the case pertaining to the mega-sporting event held, was also granted bail by the high court.

The high court took congnizance of the ruling in 2G scam case by Supreme Court when the top five coporate honchos were given bail. The apex court had said, "Right to bail is not to be denied merely because of the sentiments of the community against the accused."

Kalmadi was arrested April 26 last year for his alleged role in awarding the 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 excheque

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Supreme Court has adjourned Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s contempt of court hearing over the non-implementation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to February 1, and exempted Gilani from appearing at the next hearing. Gilani appeared in the court today after being issued a showcause notice for contempt of court for his refusal to write a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

He pointed out that Zardari enjoys constitutional immunity and the money laundering cases registered against him could only be re-opened once his presidential tenure ends.

“It will not give a good message to proceed against a President who is elected by a two-thirds majority. I have discussed this with my friends and experts, and they all agree that he has got complete immunity,” The Dawn quoted Gilani, as saying.

He stressed that he respects the court and added that he had “appeared before the apex court previously as well…Benazir Bhutto and Nusrat Bhutto also appeared before courts during their lifetimes”.

Supreme Court Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany however, stated that refusing to implement a court order was tantamount to a contempt of court.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa blamed the media for reporting the court ruling on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case in an inaccurate manner.

Pakistan People’s Party spokesperson Qamar Zaman Kaira said Gilani’s acceptance of the court summons “shows his respect” for the country’s highest court.

“We fight cases in the courts, we do not fight with courts,” Kaira added. — ANI

New Delhi: Fog enveloped the capital for the second day today, reducing visibility below 50 metres in the morning hours and affecting air and rail traffic even as the mercury plummeted below five degree Celsius.