Bail plea of former Samata party treasurer rejected

New Delhi, Mar 22 (UNI) A city court today rejected the bail plea of former Samata party treasurer Rakesh Kumar Jain, who was nabbed by the CBI in 2001 for his alleged role in procuring hand-held thermal products for the armed forces, Patiala House Court Special Judge I K Kochchar rejected the bail plea of Jain on the ground that ''investigations are still going on hence the likelihood of the accused tampering with the evidence could not be ruled out'' and thus extended his judicial custody till April 4.

This was for the second time Jain had moved the bail application in the lower court.

The CBI arrested former Samata Party treasurer R K Jain in the Tehelka video expose of 2000-01 which was carried out by a news portal called Tehelka.com under a sting operation named 'Operation Westend'.

In ten such audio-visual tapes, Jain is seen talking with the West End representatives where he describes himself being very close to the then Defence Minister George Fernandes and claims that he can exercise influence on him for the said work in return of which Jain demands 16 per cent of the contract amount as a commission for the party and his share.

The CBI alleged that in these tapes Jain claimed to have received commission in a number of defence deals which are presently under probe by the CBI.

Jain was arrested under section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and some other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

UNI XC RL BS1854