Babubhai Katara aide gets bail in trafficking case

A city court granted bail to a woman arrested in the human trafficking case involving suspended BJP MP Babubhai Katara on the "grounds of parity".

A city court on Thursday granted bail to a woman arrested in the human trafficking case involving suspended BJP MP Babubhai Katara on the "grounds of parity" with the law maker whose bail plea was accepted by the Delhi High Court recently.

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"Accused is a lady and already in custody for more than one year. Chargesheet has already been filed," Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said, ordering the release of Kiran Dhar who was in custody since April last year.

The court asked Dhar, an associate of co-accused Rajinder Kumar Gumpa who claimed himself to be the secretary of the lawmaker, to furnish bail and a personal bond of Rs 30,000 each as surety.

It also considered the fact that as many as four accused, including the prime accused, have been granted bail in the case.

Katara, an MP from reserved Dahod parliamentary seat in Gujarat, was arrested at the IGI airport here on April 18 last year when he was about to board a Toronto-bound flight along with one Pramjeet Kaur and a boy, posing as his wife and son, respectively.

The accused—Gumpa, Dhar, Sunder Lal Yadav, travel agents Satwant and Mohammed Rasheed—were later arrested for their alleged complicity in the offence.

The Delhi Police on July 16 had filed a chargesheet in the case and sought to frame the MP under various charges, including forgery.

It was alleged that there was sufficient evidence against him and five others to invoke section 467 of IPC.