NALCO official’s wife sent to 14 days’ judicial custody
By IANSTuesday, March 1, 2011
NEW DELHI - A Delhi court Tuesday sent Chandni Srivastava, wife of a top National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) official, and another accused in a corruption case to 14 days’ judicial custody.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini sent both Chandni Srivastava and Anita Bajaj to judicial custody till March 15.
As the order of judicial custody was announced by the court, both the accused started crying requesting that should not be sent to jail.
A.K. Srivastava, suspended chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of NALCO, his wife Chandni along with two accomplices Bhushan Lal Bajaj and Anita Bajaj were arrested Friday by the probe agency.
All the four accused were earlier sent to CBI custody till March 3.
The CBI told the court that it did not require the custody of Chandni and Anita. The court sent the two women to judicial custody.
The CBI presented another accused, Ratan Pal Singh Bhatia, in court and he was sent to four day’s custody of the probe agency till March 5.
Bhatia, who works for the G.S Bhatia group of industries in Indore, was arrested Monday.
“Bhatia has paid Rs.20 lakh to B.L. Bajaj for further delivery to A.K. Srivastava on behalf of Bhatia group of industries,” the CBI said in its application.
The court said: “The facts of the case reveal a deep rooted conspiracy between the accused persons regarding bribing of top ranking public servant.”
The CBI arrested A.K. Srivastava after his wife accepted an illegal gratification of three 24-carat gold bricks, each weighing one kg.
His wife accepted the bribe from the wife of middleman Bajaj, who was brokering a deal between Srivastava and a Madhya Pradesh-based private company, the CBI said.
At the time of the CBI raid, Srivastava’s wife, accompanied by the wife of the middleman, had just deposited the three gold bricks in a bank locker of Bank of Maharashtra in the national capital.
The bank locker was in the name of the wife of the middleman. It was being operated by Srivastava’s wife.
A search of the locker revealed seven more gold bricks of one kg each, golden ornaments weighing 188 grams and Rs.9.5 lakh. A search of Srivastava’s wife led to the recovery of Rs.5 lakh from her handbag and the key of another locker in the name of the wife of the middleman.
A search of the second locker led to the recovery of Rs.15 lakh.
The total recoveries amount to 10.188 kg gold and Rs.29.5 lakh. The total value of the seizures works out to approximately Rs.2.43 crore, at current prices of gold, the CBI said.
