Hearing on bail plea adjourned

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 12. Amidst stiff opposition from the prosecution and intense submission by the defence counsel, further hearing on the anticipatory bail applications of two accused in the `mini- flyover case' was posted to July 18 by the Principal Sessions Judge, Mr. S. Ashok Kumar, today.

When the petitions of Mr. Raja Shankar and Mr. N. Raghavan came up, the senior counsel, Mr. S. Ramasamy, submitted that Mr. Raja Shankar was appointed Special Representative of the Mayor only during the implementation stage of the flyover project and that too on an honorary basis.

The Public Prosecutor, Mr. Gomathinayagam, cast doubts on the appointment itself, saying Mr. Raja Shankar was neither a qualified engineer nor Corporation employee. Hence his appointment to `supervise' the implementation of the project was questionable.

The judge, however, pointed out that as per available documents Mr. Raja Shankar was appointed only in February 1999, before which the project conception, estimation and tenders had all been finalised.

Mr. Raghavan, after quoting the lowest bid, received Rs. 1 crore for consultancy services. ``While Mr. Raghavan, who had received Rs. 1 crore as fees, has been named in the FIR, how come none of the contractors who had handled a whopping Rs. 196 crores has been cited as an accused?'', wondered Mr. Ashok Kumar.

The judge also posed the following questions to the prosecution: When was the conspiracy hatched? Why only 14 persons were named in the FIR, though the panels handling the project had 30 members? When some of the accused had been arrested, why some others whose names were found in the FIR were not held?

When Mr. Gomathinayagam submitted that he could answer only after further investigation, Mr. Ashok Kumar offered to adjourn the case for another week, provided the Public Prosecutor gave an undertaking that the prosecution would come better prepared and with more answers next time. The PP accepted the offer with another undertaking that the petitioners would not be arrested before July 18.

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Section  : Southern States
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