New Delhi: The judicial custody of sacked
CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, arrested for
alleged irregularities in awarding a contract to a Swiss firm,
was extended on Wednesday by a Delhi court.
While remanding the suspended Congress MP to judicial
custody till June 1, Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh also
extended for the same period the jail custody of two other top
officials of the Games organising committee -- OC Joint
Director General (Sport) A S V Prasad and Deputy Director
General (Procurement) Surjit Lal.
The trio had been arrested on April 25 for awarding
the lucrative contract to the Swiss firm to install a
Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) system for the 2010 Commonwealth
Games at an exorbitant cost, causing a loss of over Rs 90
crore to the exchequer.
The court also extended the judicial custody of
Organising Committee`s former Secretary General Lalit Bhanot
and former Director General V K Verma till May 24 keeping in
view the fact that the stipulated 90 days` period to file
charge sheet against them after their arrest will expire on
the same day.
Meanwhile, Lal and Prasad moved the court for bail and
their pleas will be heard on May 20.
Kalmadi too had earlier sought bail from the court,
which has reserved its order on his plea for May 21. The CBI
had opposed Kalmadi`s bail plea saying that he had "tarnished
the image of the country".
The 66-year-old Lok Sabha MP from Pune in Maharashtra
is presently lodged in Tihar Jail since May 4.
Bhanot and Verma were arrested on February 23 for
allegedly committing irregularities in awarding the contract.
PTI
