Delhi HC grants bail to Nepalese national in espionage case

The Delhi High Court on Monday granted bail to a Nepalese national arrested in an espionage case for allegedly leaking sensitive information to Chinese intelligence officersJustice Vikas Mahajan said no useful purpose would be served in keeping petitioner Sher Singh who was neither named in the FIR nor was any confidential document recovered from him behind bars after completion of investigation and granted him bail subject to conditionsThe judge said the allegations and defence will be tested during the trial and at this stage it has to be noted the other coaccused who are main accused have been released on default bail while the petitioner has remained in custody since September 19 2020The investigation is complete and no further recovery has to be made from the petitioner It is also not the case of the prosecution that the petitioner is a habitual offender or he is involved in any other case said the courtIn view of the above no useful purpose would be served in keeping the petitioner behind bars Accordingly the petitioner is admitted to bail on his furnishing a Personal Bond in the sum of Rs 10000 with one surety of like amount the court orderedDelhi Police had registered the present FIR in 2020 for alleged commission of offences under the Official Secrets Act and arrested Delhibased freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma on September 14 2020The prosecution claimed according to inputs received from an Indian intelligence agency Sharma was receiving funds from his handler through hawala channels and Western Union Money Transfer platform for conveying sensitive information having a bearing on National Security and foreign relations through electronic meansSubsequently the petitioner was also apprehended for being part of the conspiracyPolice opposed the bail plea of the petitioner contending that the offences affect the sovereignty and integrity of the nation and being a citizen of Nepal he is a flight riskIt claimed the petitioner played an active role in the conspiracy and was a director in the company which was acting as a conduit to deliver cash to Rajeev SharmaThe accused claimed he was not educated and taking advantage of this fact the coaccused had made him the director having only about 001 per cent shareholding in the company He claimed he was falsely implicated in the caseWhile granting him bail the court directed Singh to surrender his passport and not leave the city without its prior permissionSharma was granted default bail by the high court in December 2020 Under Indian laws an accused is entitled to default bail if investigation in a criminal case is not completed within the stipulated timeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever