Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry gave the relief to accused Sudhir Rathi, a Delhi Police sub inspector, while directing him to surrender his passport and not to tamper with evidence.
"Recovery has been effected from the accused and that he has been in custody since November 27 and he is no more required for custodial interrogation. Thus without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, further considering that applicant being in Delhi Police, there is no likelihood of his fleeing from justice. He is accordingly admitted to bail...," the court said.
Rathi's counsel claimed that he was not named in the FIR and that he was falsely implicated in the case and sought the relief on the ground of parity as one of the co-accused Rohit Arora has already been granted bail.
According to the police, the complainant, a cloth trader, had come to Delhi on November 7 in connection with his business with the old currency and the next day, he came to know about demonetisation of currency notes and approached one Shailender Singh through his relative for changing the old notes.
The police alleged that the accused kept on delaying the payment of the amount on one pretext or the other after which an FIR was lodged. During the probe, it was found that the demonetised notes were given to Arora and two others who allegedly misappropriated it in connivance with Rathi.
The prosecution opposed Rathi's bail saying Rs two lakh were recovered from him and no ground was made out for grant of bail. It contended that investigation was at an initial stage and Rathi, being a police official, may hamper the probe.