Accused denied bail in bribery case

The Special Judge, CBI Court, has dismissed a bail application of Satpal Sisodiya who was arrested by the CBI in an alleged bribery case.

The CBI had arrested Satpal on October 14, 2024, red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from complainant on behalf of a co-accused. The CBI registered the FIR on a complaint of one Narayan Swami of Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26. He told the CBI that the accused came to his house on October 9 and introduced himself as dealing hand of the Building Branch of the Estate Office. The accused alleged that the complainant and his family are illegally living in the house and that the Estate Office will issue rent ‘parchi’ in his name.

The accused demanded Rs 2.5 lakh from him for sorting out the matter of rent ‘parchi’. He also named another employee of the Estate Office and claimed that he had asked him to meet Narayan Swami.

Not wanting to pay the bribe, the complainant moved this complaint to the CBI, Chandigarh. A trap was laid and accused was arrested by the CBI.

The counsel of the accused said the accused was innocent and had been falsely implicated in the case. He did not have any direct authority or decision making power in the official functions of the government department concerned.

On the other hand, the prosecution said the applicant was the main accused in the case, as he had acted as conduit to obtain the bribe money on behalf of the co-accused and was caught red-handed while accepting the money in the presence of an independent witness.

After hearing of the arguments the court dismissed the bail of the accused. The court said the applicant was the main accused in the case as per the story of the prosecution. Though the applicant has been languishing in jail since October 15, 2024, the investigation is still ongoing and the final report of investigation has not yet been filed. In this backdrop, his bail application is dismissed, the court added.