Ex-HCS officer's bail plea junked

Amit Bathla

Panchkula, February 11

A district court today dismissed the bail application of former Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officer Anil Nagar, the key accused in the alleged HPSC cash-for-job scam.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Hukam Singh stated that the “apprehensions expressed by the public prosecutor that the accused will hamper the investigation and overawe the witnesses if released on bail appear to be reasonable.”

The advocate for the accused had contended that his client was falsely implicated in the case and had nothing to do with the alleged offence. He had also said the accused was not named in the FIR and was arrested in the present case on the basis of a disclosure statement of the co-accused.

“The recovery shown was planted on him. He has not demanded or accepted any bribe. His wife had undergone major lungs surgery and remained on ventilator for 19 days. The investigation has been completed and the challan has been filed. The petitioner (accused) is in the custody since November 18. The trial of the case will take a long time and no useful purpose would be served by keeping him (accused) behind bars. He will abide by all the conditions, if any, imposed while granting bail,” the accused lawyer submitted while praying for the grant of the bail.

On the other hand, the public prosecutor opposed the bail, saying that there were serious and specific allegations against the accused as he was arrested with Rs1.07 crore.

“He (the accused) made disclosure statement and got Rs66 lakh, Rs12 lakh and Rs1.44 crore recovered,” he argued, adding that the case was at the initial stage and the accused could create hindrance in the arrest of co-accused.

Nagar, who was posted as the Deputy Secretary in the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), and two others were arrested in November last year for allegedly taking bribe for manipulating the marks of candidates who had appeared for a written exam for the posts of dental surgeon conducted by the commission.

According to the challan submitted by the State Vigilance Bureau in the court last month, besides dental surgeons’ recruitment, the accused had also rigged the HCS-2021 preliminary examination.