New Delhi, 07 April (H.S.):

Rouse Avenue Court Special Judge Vishal Gogne has granted bail to jailed conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar in the case involving an attempt to bribe the Election Commission over the AIADMK election symbol. Despite the order, he remains incarcerated due to multiple other pending cases.

The court observed that 31 registered cases against Chandrasekhar do not preclude his bail eligibility; he has served over half the maximum sentence under PMLA Section 4 and secured bail in 26 of 31 matters. With CBI and ED proceedings stalled for years, prolonged custody serves no purpose.

Chandrasekhar was arrested on April 16, 2017, for allegedly facilitating a ₹50 crore deal to secure the party symbol for TTV Dhinakaran by influencing EC officials illegally. Delhi Police filed a chargesheet on July 14, 2018; Patiala House Court framed charges against him, Dhinakaran, Mallikarjun, and lawyer B Kumar on November 17, 2018.

Crime Branch recovered over ₹1 crore from his premises and uncovered ₹10 crore hawala transactions routed via Chennai, Kochi, and Chandni Chowk. Chandrasekhar also faces charges of defrauding Aditi Singh, wife of ex-Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh, of ₹200 crore.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar