Pushkin case: Accused gets bail for being HIV+

Four years after a sensational double murder that involved Delhi’s upmarket homosexual culture, the man accused of it has been granted bail after he was found to be HIV positive.

Four years after a sensational double murder that involved Delhi’s upmarket homosexual culture, the man accused of it has been granted bail after he was found to be HIV positive.

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“In view of the circumstances that the accused Rajesh is suffering from HIV (infection) as well as tuberculosis and he appeared to be quite ill, his bail is granted to an interim period of two months,” Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Kumar said.

On August 14 2004 Pushkin Chandra, a senior executive with a multinational was stabbed to death in the bathroom of his outhouse in the upmarket Anand Lok colony in south Delhi. Also found dead in his bedroom was a man in his 20s.

Pushkin’s partner was one Kuldeep Singh, a lower middle-class unemployed youth — the son of a cafeteria employee at AIIMS. His body was in a similar condition – hands and legs tied, throat slit.

The court has allowed the bail plea of Rajesh Santram, arrested in the case on August 28, 2004 on furnishing a personal and surety bond of Rs 15,000 each. His proper treatment was not possible inside the jail, his counsel Aman Sarin said.