Poor health no longer bails out scam accused

The Delhi court decision to reject former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's bail plea and send him to Tihar jail for 14 days is one of a long series of rulings where scam accused are not granted bails on health ground.

The Delhi court decision to reject former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's bail plea and send him to Tihar jail for 14 days is one of a long series of rulings where scam accused are not granted bails on health ground.

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When the cash-for-vote scam came up for hearing before special judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, Singh's counsel sought exemption from personal appearance for him, saying he hadn't been keeping well since his kidney transplant surgery in Singapore in July 2009.

But Sehgal was not satisfied with Singh's medical papers he as they were till September 2010.

Singh's plea "I am now living on borrowed kidneys" failed to convince the judge.

In fact, in none of the recent corruption cases, has the court granted bail on health ground.

Special judge OP Saini, who is hearing the 2G case, rejected film producer Karim Morani's anticipatory bail on May 30.

Morani was sent to Tihar Jail. He cited his poor health as a ground, but his regular bail plea too was later rejected.

Similar was the case of CWG scam accused and former Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi. Special judge Talwant Singh rejected his poor health plea on June 6, 2011.

In August 2010, although the Andhra Pradesh high court granted bail on health grounds to former Satyam Computers chief Ramalinga Raju, the Supreme Court cancelled it in October 2010.