Chandigarh Housing Board official granted bail in corruption case

Chandigarh, April 20

Additional Sessions Judge (Duty) Rajeev Goyal today granted regular bail to a senior assistant officer of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) in a corruption case. Accused Jagdish Raj Manchanda was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 on March 11.

Hearing in the case was held through WhatsApp video call. In the bail application, SPS Bhullar, counsel for the accused, submitted that he has been in custody since March 11, 2020. Investigation is going on and as such, challan is yet to be filed. The counsel submitted that sanction to prosecute the petitioner was yet to be obtained.

Opposing the bail application, the public prosecutor contended that the accused was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 and no ground to grant regular bail to the accused is made out.

After hearing the arguments, the Duty Judge granted regular bail to the accused on furnishing personal bond of Rs 50,000.

According to the prosecution, accused Jagdish Raj Manchanda was nabbed by sleuths of the Vigilance Department for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the complainant on March 11.

In a complaint to the Vigilance Department, the complainant alleged that he was allotted an EWS house in Dhanas. However, he lost his allotment and possession letters. In order to get the duplicate documents, he met Jagdish Raj Manchanda, who reportedly assured the complainant that he would do the work and demanded Rs 50,000 as bribe. However, after negotiation, the deal was settled for Rs 40,000.

The accused allegedly asked the complainant to come with advance payment of Rs 20,000 near a liquor shop in Sector 22 on March 11. The Vigilance sleuths laid a trap near the liquor shop and nabbed the accused while accepting money from the complainant. — TNS

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