New Delhi:
A Delhi court on Monday granted interim bail till Sep 21 to Govind Kanda, brother of former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda and an accused in the Geetika Sharma suicide case, in a case of ignoring warrants in a 14-year-old dud cheque matter.
Police recently registered a case against Kanda brothers for non-appearance in response to proclamation process initiated by court.
District Judge HS Sharma granted bail to Govind Kanda till Sep 21 on a personal bond of Rs.10,000 and a surety of same amount.
On the direction of a court, Gopal Kanda and his brother Govind, were declared proclaimed offenders in the cheque-bounce case, which they had settled out of court last month.
Gopal Kanda is in 14-day judicial custody till Sep 11, for allegedly abetting the suicide of 23-year-old former flight attendant Geetika.
Geetika committed suicide on the night of Aug 4-5 at her house in New Delhi. In her suicide note, she accused Gopal Kanda of harassing her and forcing her to commit suicide but he has denied the allegation.
While directing the registration of case against Kanda brothers, the court said evading court summons and warrants was different from cheque-bounce case and acquittal in one case did not absolve anyone of the second offence.
"The offence under section 174 A (proclaimed offender) of the Indian Penal Code and section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act (cheque-bounce case) are two distinct offences. The acquittal of the accused in the compoundable offence under section 138...does not bar investigation into the offence under section 174 A IPC," said Metropolitan Magistrate Vikrant Vaid.
Both the brothers faced summons and then warrants by the Delhi court ever since the 1998 case when a Rs.4 lakh cheque issued by Gopal Kanda had bounced. But the two failed to appear before it.
In May this year, the court declared both the brothers proclaimed offenders for not heeding its repeated summons and warrants to appear before it.
On Aug 18, Govind Kanda was arrested for helping Gopal Kanda evade arrest in the Geetika suicide case.
On the same day, Metropolitan Magistrate Vaid while granting bail to Govind Kanda in the cheque-bounce case, also asked police to file a reply on the steps taken against the Kanda brothers for ignoring the court's order for appearing before it despite various summons.
If the two brothers are convicted under section 174 A of the IPC, they could get a maximum punishment of three years.
Mr Kanda had resigned as Harayna's minister of state for home after he was charged with abetting the suicide of Geetika.