New Delhi: Amit Kumar, alleged kingpin of a kidney transplant racket, has been granted bail in a money laundering case by a Delhi court which said no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping him behind bars for an indefinite period as the trial is still pending.
District judge P S Teji granted the relief to Amit on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of like amount and directed him not to leave the country without its prior permission.
"He is further directed not to tamper with the evidence and not to influence the prosecution witnesses," the court said.
"After framing of charge, prosecution evidence is being recorded. The Directorate of Enforcement has examined five witnesses, out of 33 witnesses. The trial of the case is at an initial stage and it is not likely to conclude soon. In my considered view, no fruitful purpose would be served to keep the accused (Amit) behind bars for an indefinite period.
"So far as the contentions raised in the application are concerned, it is not the stage to make any comment on the same. The same would be ascertained only at the time of passing the judgement," the court said while allowing the bail application of Amit.
Amit, who was lodged at Ambala Jail, is now out as he has already been granted bail in other criminal cases pending against him.
The court is at present recording prosecution evidence in the case registered against Amit by Enforcement Directorate for allegedly violating foreign exchange laws and stashing black money abroad.
The multi-crore rupee scandal had surfaced in January 2008 when police had arrested several people for running a kidney transplant racket in Gurgaon. Amit was arrested in Nepal in February 2008.
Amit had sought bail on the ground that prosecution has already examined five witnesses and nothing adverse has come against him.
ED had opposed Amit`s bail plea contending that there was every likelihood that if he was enlarged on bail, he might abscond and attempt to influence the witnesses.
ED, in its charge sheet filed through Special Public Prosecutor Naveen K Matta, had said Amit and his accomplices used to charge Rs 12 to 15 lakh on average from the native organ recipients and USD 25,000 to USD 30,000 from foreign clients.
The agency accused them of stashing an undisclosed amount in foreign banks.
Besides Amit, his brother Jeevan Kumar, his three aides Raghuvinder Singh, Rajiv Chanana and Sanjay Gupta are also facing trial in the court for the same offence.
Alleging that a substantial portion of illegally earned money of accused has been invested in movable and immovable properties abroad, ED had said that it has also managed to attach their properties in Australia in June last year.
ED had said Amit along with Jeevan Kumar had hatched a criminal conspiracy with other accomplices and by alluring innocent poor people, they fraudulently removed their kidneys through surgical operations. The removed organs were given to recipients for a huge monetary consideration.
While framing charges against Amit earlier, the court had said there was prima facie evidence that he used to perform illegal kidney surgeries on the victims arranged by his associates.
