HC grants interim stay on defreezing of a firm's accounts

Delhi High Court today granted interim stay on the trial court's order defreezing two bank accounts of a company which is being probed in an alleged graft case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's principal secretary Rajendra Kumar and others.
Justice P S Teji also issued notice to M/s Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd (ESPL) seeking its response by May 5 on CBI's plea seeking stay on the trial court's April 5 order.
During the brief hearing, the court asked CBI's counsel about the status of these two bank accounts of the firm. "What is the status of the accounts? Have they (firm) withdrawn the amount," the bench asked.

Responding to the query, the advocate said "part amount has been withdrawn from the account."
CBI had submitted that the investigation in the case was at a crucial stage and claimed that the trial court's order was bad in law and they had evidence to establish that ESPL was favoured.
The trial court's order had come while defreezing two bank accounts of ESPL which was alleged to have received contracts from Kumar. It had castigated CBI for "flouting" procedures with impunity and being "conspicuously ambiguous" in the probe into corruption allegations against Kumar and others.

CBI had alleged that Kumar had played an "active role in process of promising and facilitating" award of tender to a "pre-determined party", ESPL, due to extraneous consideration.

The agency's raid on the office of Kumar, close to the Chief Minister's office in the Delhi secretariat on December 15 last year, had triggered a political storm.
CBI had registered a case against Kumar and others on the allegations that he had abused his official position by favouring the firm in the last few years in getting tenders from the Delhi government departments.
Kumar has been booked under section 120-B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy), and under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly favouring the company in five contracts worth Rs 9.5 crore during 2007-14.
Separately, the trial court had also urged the Delhi High Court to initiate "contempt of court" proceedings against some CBI officials, including the investigating officer of the case.