Kalra granted bail in Oxygen concentrator case

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 29

A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to businessman Navneet Kalra who was arrested in connection with the seizure of oxygen concentrators from his restaurants in the national capital.

During a recent raid, 524 oxygen concentrators—used for Covid patients—were recovered from Khan Chacha, Town Hall and Nege & Ju restaurants owned by Kalra. The concentrators were imported from China and were being sold at an exorbitant price of Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000 each as against its cost of Rs 16,000 to Rs 22,000, the police alleged.

However, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Arun Kumar Garg ordered Kalra’s release on bail subject to the accused furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties in the like amount. The case was primarily based upon documentary evidence that had already been seized, he noted.

The CMM directed Kalra not to contact the customers to whom he had sold the concentrators, not to tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses and join the investigation as and when called by the police.

“In my considered opinion, no purpose will be served by keeping the accused behind bars… the purpose of bail is neither preventive nor punitive but to secure the appearance of the accused person at his trial by reasonable amount of bail and the right to bail is not to be denied to the accused merely because sentiments of the community are against the accused,” the court noted.

Kalra was picked up from Gurugram on May 16 and formally arrested the next day before being on the run ever since the police raided his restaurants and seized the medical devices.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava alleged that Kalra committed a white-collar crime and made illegal profit by selling medical devices at exorbitant price to those on deathbed.