Gopal Krishna Madhav, the officer on special duty (OSD) to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, moved a Delhi court Friday seeking bail in a bribery case alleging that the CBI has failed to gather evidence against him and was pressuring him to sign blank papers to implicate senior GST officials.
Madhav was produced before Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann after expiry of his CBI custody.
The court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days, would hear his bail plea on February 15.
The court also sent co-accused Dheeraj Gupta, arrested in the case, to judicial custody till February 28.
The CBI had earlier told the court that it has a long list of transporters who were reportedly asked to pay bribe to get GST exemption.
According to the CBI, Madhav, posted in the GST department of Delhi government, was arrested on the basis of the information provided by a middleman, who allegedly collected bribes from transporters on his behalf.
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Madhav, who joined the service as Head Clerk in August 2003 in the Education Department, has posted as officer on special duty (OSD) in Sisodia's office since 2015, the agency said.
In his bail plea, filed through advocate S S Pandey, Madhav has alleged that he was arrested on the basis of a "botched up" investigation.
The petition stated that it was a "clear case of victimization and over enthusiasm of the CBI officials clearly indicating gross abuse of power to harass a public servant which only indicated complete ignorance of the law, guidelines, rulings and their manual for the steps required before arresting a public servant or such action has been taken with extraneous reasons just a day before the Delhi Assembly elections held on February 8".
"The applicant (Madhav) had heard about Dheeraj Gupta to be an informer giving real-time information of the defaulters moving within the jurisdiction of Delhi, GSTO, out of several informers of this kind. The applicant had no idea of the motive of such informers and he did not have any past acquaintance with Gupta.
"The CBI, in utter disregard to the procedural safeguards in place as well as in gross violation of his basic fundamental right, has illegally arrested him and for more than a week he is being pressurized to sign blank papers or implicate his superior officers by keeping him in its custody only to present a distorted factual position about the actual events in desperation having failed to gather any evidence to even prima facie connect the applicant with alleged demand as well as acceptance," the plea alleged.
It further alleged the CBI was trying to find a "face saving excuse" to avoid the consequences they should face for such "malicious prosecution" by trying to increase the scope in "desperation" by bringing senior officials of the Delhi government in its fold.
"It is clear case of the complainant running an illegal syndicate in connivance with the other like-minded elements to evade GST and having confronted with a situation where Madhav was found to be unrelenting to oblige him in such illegal design, a conspiracy was hatched using mindless compliant prosecution agency so that he is uprooted before he settles in his appointment and impedes such illegal activities causing loss to the exchequer," the plea claimed.
The case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by one Joginder Singh, who alleged that Gupta collected about Rs 2 lakh from him for release of one of his vehicles which was impounded by the GST department.