Court grants bail to Delhi Police ASI in bribery case

A Delhi court has granted bail to an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in a case of allegedly accepting bribes from transporters in exchange for not issuing challans for traffic violations, noting that the complainant had retracted the allegations.

Special Judge Atul Krishna Agrawal granted bail to Assistant Sub-Inspector Vijay Kumar on June 12, observing that in a statement recorded before a magistrate, the complainant had withdrawn the allegations made by him.

The judge further noted that the bribe money had already been recovered in the case and that the accused’s custodial interrogation did not appear necessary.

“Considering the period of judicial custody of the accused, as well as the fact that the recovery whatsoever has already been effected and also the fact that co-accused Head Constable Surender has already been granted bail by the concerned court… accused Vijay Kumar is admitted to bail,” the judge said.

According to the complaint filed last month by a man named Dilip Kumar, who had been working for two years with the traffic police as a helper, he was allegedly used by officials to collect payments from various transporters and other individuals. He claimed he later realised the money collected was bribes paid in lieu of not penalising the transporters and others for traffic violations.

The bail application, however, stated that the accused had lent money to the complainant and when he asked for it to be returned, Dilip refused to repay and instead filed the present “false and frivolous case” against him.

The accused claimed innocence and urged the court for bail, asserting that nothing incriminating was recovered from him. He added that he had been in jail since May 21 and was no longer required for any kind of recovery.

The prosecution opposed the bail application, arguing that the allegations against the accused were serious in nature, as the bribes were collected from transporters in lieu of not issuing challans or reducing the challan amount.