Land scam: HC bail to Ashok Malhotra

New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today granted bail to Ashok Malhotra, the prime accused in the multi-million-rupee land scam in the national capital.

Hearing Malhotra's bail petition, Justice Rekha Sharma ordered suspension of his incarceration. He faces charges for hatching a conspiracy with five Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials to fraudulently acquire plots in Dhirpur area meant for resettlement of slum dwellers during 2000-02.

The plots were illegally allotted, only to be sold at high prices, the prosecuting CBI said.

Malhotra was picked up by the CBI sleuths from a news studio in August. He had offered to surrender on the condition that the investigative agency interrogate him in the presence of a legal team.

His accomplice, Ashok Jain, was arrested in September following Malhotra's interrogation. The preliminary investigations, the CBI submitted before the court, had revealed how Jain introduced Malhotra to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials.

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