Postal chief gets bail in Rs 2-cr bribery case

The chief postmaster general of Maharashtra and Goa, Manjit Singh Bali, was granted bail by the Special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Friday.

The chief postmaster general of Maharashtra and Goa, Manjit Singh Bali, was granted bail by the Special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Friday.

HT Image

The CBI had arrested Bali on February 25 for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2 crore to issue a no-objection certificate for construction of a post office in Thane district.

The officials had recovered Rs 34 lakh, $10,722, £3,050 and 3,470 euros from Bali’s south Mumbai residence.

The CBI had also arrested Arun Kalmiya and his son Harsh, who own a consultancy firm in south Mumbai, for allegedly acted as middlemen between Bali and complainant.

In his bail application, Bali said the investigation is complete and he is in judicial custody. He also said he will cooperate with the CBI. But the CBI opposed the bail saying there is incriminating evidence against Bali and the investigation is at a “very crucial stage”.

The special CBI court granted Bali bail on a bond of Rs 1 lakh and also granted bail to the Kalmiyas.

The court also directed Bali to present himself at the CBI office “as and when demanded”, said Special CBI public prosecutor A.A. Ansari.

Ansari said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved an application to investigate the case. The court directed Bali to go to ED’s office for 15 consecutive days from the day he is summoned.