File photo of Gopal Kanda
The Delhi police today opposed the bail granted to former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda High Court in the airhostess Geetika Sharma suicide case saying it had "seriously" prejudiced the trial.
"The trial court glossed over the fact that there was no change in circumstances between the time when it had rejected the bail and when it granted the same to the accused (Kanda).
"There was only one change in circumstance, if any; the fact that co-accused Aruna Chadha was granted bail by high court on the grounds that she is a single parent of a 9-year-old girl and has to look after her ailing parents," said Additional Solicitor General Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Delhi Police.
The lower court had on October 14 last year dismissed the bail plea of Mr Kanda and, later, on March 4 2014, granted him bail after noting that co-accused Chadha had been released on bail by the high court.
The ASG accused Mr Kanda of trying to "over-reach" the judicial process and told Justice VP Vaish that, "the court should always be alive to the fact that here is an accused who is trying to over-reach the judicial process.
"Moreover, this is not a case of financial fraud, which is based on documentary evidence. Here, a life has been lost and a court decision should always keep this fact in mind."
He also alleged fabrication of medical records of Mr Kanda's wife to secure bail for the former minister, saying that while one set of records suggest that her name was Meera Devi, other records cite it to be Saraswati Devi.
Moreover, these medical records surfaced after Chadha got bail from high court on the grounds of her parents being ill, he added.
The court has now fixed May 15 as the date for hearing the plea of Ankit Sharma, brother of Geetika, seeking cancellation of the bail granted to Kanda. The counsel for the former Haryana minister would rebut submissions of Delhi Police on that date.
Mr Kanda and Chadha are facing trial for the offence of abetting the suicide by the 23-year-old Geetika, who was earlier employed as an airhostess in Kanda's MDLR airlines.
Earlier, the court had asked Kanda and Delhi Police to file their replies to the bail cancellation plea.
The plea had alleged that being an "influential" politician, Mr Kanda may tamper with evidence and influence the witnesses in the trial.
The trial court, while granting bail to Mr Kanda, had observed that the former minister had been in judicial custody since August, 2012, in connection with the case.
Chadha was arrested on August 8, 2012, while Mr Kanda had surrendered a few days later on August 18.
Both the accused have also been charged with forgery for cheating and harming the reputation of the victim.
Geetika was found dead on August 5, 2012, at her Ashok Vihar residence in northwest Delhi. In her suicide note, she had said she was ending her life due to "harassment" by Mr Kanda and Chadha.
The police had in its charge-sheet said Mr Kanda was obsessed with the victim and was putting pressure on her to come back to his company.