Fake degree case: Court grants bail to Tomar

Former Delhi law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar was on Thursday granted bail by a court here in an alleged fake degree case with riders.Additional Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav allowed the bail application of Tomar after imposing several conditions including a bar on his travel outside the national capital without prior permission from the court and joining the investigation as and when required.

The court also asked Tomar to deposit a personal bond of `50,000 and a surety of the like amount. The court had reserved the order for Thursday after hearing arguments advanced by the counsel for Tomar and prosecutor.During the arguments on Wednesday, advocate Harshit Jain, appearing for Tomar, had sought bail saying most evidences were documentary in nature and there was no question of him influencing the witnesses.

While seeking bail, Jain had said verification and analysis of documents was a lengthy process and there was no need for extending Tomar’s judicial custody.

Special public prosecutor Atul Srivastava had opposed the bail plea on the ground that investigation was still on and he could influence witnesses. He contended that several documents seized from different universities where Tomar allegedly pursued his llB and BSc courses are yet to be verified and analysed.

A magisterial court had earlier rejected Tomar’s bail pleas twice. Tomar, an MlA from Trinagar, was arrested on June 9 following a probe by the Delhi police on the complaint of Bar Council of Delhi that he had obtained a fake law degree from a Bihar college.An FIR was registered against Tomar on June 8 at Hauz Khas police station for alleged offences of cheating, forgery, using forged documents as genuine, forgery with intent to cheat and criminal conspiracy under the IPC.