EC bribery case: Delhi Court to pass order on Dinakaran's bail tomorrow

A Delhi court would tomorrow pronounce its order on the bail plea of AIADMK (Amma) faction leader TTV Dinakaran, who was arrested for alleged involvement in the Election Commission bribery case.

Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry, who was scheduled to pass the order on the bail pleas of Dinakaran and his close aide Mallikarjuna today, said the order could not be completed and it would be pronounced tomorrow as stenographers were on leave.

Dinakaran, who was arrested by Delhi Police Crime Branch on April 25, sought bail on the ground that there was no reason to keep him in custody and no public servant was made an accused in the case though he was booked on graft charges.

His bail was opposed by the police which had said he had conspired with others to undermine the sanctity of the electoral process through corrupt means and practices.

Mallikarjuna, who was also arrested on April 25, sought bail on the ground that no recovery was made at his instance and he had joined the investigation even though no summons were issued to him by the police. His bail application was also opposed by the police.

Accused Dinakaran, Mallikarjuna, alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrashekar and alleged hawala operator Nathu Singh are in judicial custody till June 12. Co-accused Lalit Kumar, who was also alleged to be a hawala operator, is in judicial custody till June 5.

The court had on May 22 dismissed the bail plea of Chandrashekar saying it was not appropriate to grant him bail at this stage as it was a serious crime and he could tamper with the evidence.

Earlier, the police had sought the consent of Dinakaran and Chandrashekar for taking voice samples but both had refused.

Dinakaran was arrested here on the night of April 25 after four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe unidentified Election Commission (EC) officials to get the undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' election symbol.

His faction had hoped to obtain the symbol for the bypoll to the R K Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu, which was later on cancelled by the EC after the alleged irregularities were reported in the media.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who was elected from the constituency.

The EC had frozen the AIADMK's symbol after two factions of the party -- one led by Dinakaran's aunt Sasikala and the other by former chief minister O Panneerselvam -- staked claim to it.

Dinakaran has been accused of allegedly arranging the money from undisclosed sources and getting it transferred from Chennai to Delhi through illegal channels.

Mallikarjuna was arrested for allegedly facilitating a Rs 50-crore deal between Dinakaran and Chandrashekar.