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Cash for ‘managing’ PIL: Lawyer Rajiv Kumar gets bail in J’khand HC
The lawyer was arrested on July 31 with ₹50 in lakh by Kolkata police on a complaint filed by Kolkata-based businessman Amit Agrawal, who had alleged that Kumar had demanded ₹1 crore to get his name removed from a PIL filed in Jharkhand HC seeking a CBI probe against certain shell companies, including a few operated by Agrawal.
Jharkhand High Court advocate Rajiv Kumar, who was arrested in Kolkata with ₹50 lakh in cash and is probed for money laundering, was on Wednesday granted bail by the HC, his counsel said.
Nilesh Kumar, counsel of Rajiv Kumar, said he was granted bail by the single bench of justice SK Dwivedi.
“We submitted that he was wrongly implicated and trapped in the case. The bench, which perused all relevant documents, including the affidavit by probe central agency Enforcement Directorate (ED), allowed our prayer for bail,” said Nilesh Kumar.
Rajiv Kumar is likely to be out of Hotwar jail in Ranchi in a day or two, he said.
The lawyer was arrested on July 31 with ₹50 in lakh by Kolkata police on a complaint filed by Kolkata-based businessman Amit Agrawal, who had alleged that Kumar had demanded ₹1 crore to get his name removed from a PIL filed in Jharkhand high court seeking a CBI probe against certain shell companies, including a few operated by Agrawal.
A case was registered by Kolkata police, in which Kumar has already secured bail from the Calcutta High Court.
The ED had, on August 10, registered a case in its Ranchi office based on the case lodged by Kolkata police and took Rajiv Kumar on remand on August 20. Based on further investigations, the ED arrested businessman Amit Agrawal, accusing him of money laundering.
Agrawal is currently in judicial custody in Ranchi.
The ED has made Amit Agrawal the main accused in the case, accusing him of conspiring to get Rajiv Kumar trapped by luring him with financial benefits, with sole intention to frustrate and influence the outcome of a PIL in collusion with him.
The said PIL, along with another PIL related to mining lease of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, filed by petitioner Shiv Shankar Sharma, which were argued by advocate Rajiv Kumar in Jharkhand HC, were dismissed by the Supreme Court on Monday.
