Karnal, December 20
The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Karnal today granted interim bail till December 24 to R.C. Gupta, Director-cum-General Manager (Commercial) of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited.
The local police arrested him late last night from his New Delhi residence following bailable warrants issued by the court. Mr Gupta earlier did not accept the summons issued by the court on a complaint of fraud pending against him under Sections 384, 420 and 506 of the IPC.
As per the details available, Mr Surinder Kumar Kakkar, son of Mr Khushal Chand proprietor of National Pharma Distributor, Ambala Cantonment, and National Finance Company, Karnal, had in his complaint alleged that Mr Gupta had accepted a ‘gift’ of Rs 3 lakh to extend the carry-and-forward contract of Ranbaxy with his firm for the third time and he had paid Rs 5 lakh to renew the contract for the fourth time. The complainant alleged that the first amount was paid through demand draft in favour of Ms Shashi Gupta, the daughter of Mr Gupta.
However, even after getting the bribe the accused terminated the agreement between the two firms on June 6, 2003, almost a year before the due date, alleged the complainant. Mr Gupta has been assigned the charge of entering into various contracts and agreements on behalf of Ranbaxy with C&F agents and distributors.
Mr Kakkar also alleged in his complaint that he had approached the local police to lodge a complaint against Mr Gupta and Mr Vinay Kaul, Chief Finance Manager of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, but the police had not taken any action against them.
The case was filed against Mr Gupta and Mr Kaul before the court of Mr Najjar Singh, Chief Judicial Magistrate of Karnal, on July 14, 2003, after the local police failed to provide justice, alleged Mr Kakkar. During the course of trial, the CJM repeatedly issued summons to the defendants, but Mr Gupta refused to accept the summons.
Finally, the court issued bailable warrants against Mr Gupta and Mr Kaul a few weeks back. Subsequently, he was arrested by the police late last night from his New Delhi residence and produced in court this morning. The other accused was still eluding arrest.
