Binod Sinha, a close aide of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday in the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme (RGRES) scam case.
The court lambasted the CBI’s “lackadaisical” approach. “Binod was granted bail by the Supreme Court as the CBI failed to file chargesheet in the specified timeframe stipulated under the law,” explained his advocate Vinay Prakash.
As Binod has secured bail in other cases against him from various courts, he may soon be released from the Birsa Munda Central Jail, where he has been lodged since September 16, 2010. “We expect Binod out by Monday,” added Prakash.
Three other cases of money laundering, disproportionate assets and involvement in the State Pollution Control Board scam are pending against him. The last was quashed by the Jharkhand High Court, according to his attorney.
Prakash added, “After the CBI could not file chargesheet after two-and-a-half years since the case was registered, it was granted three months at the last hearing.” The Vigilance Bureau had charge-sheeted Binod for swindling Rs 11 crore. The CBI took over the case in October 2011.
The CBI had charged Koda with getting illegal gratification through Binod in allotment of contracts under RGRES to a Hyderabad-based company during his chief ministerial tenure of 2006-08. Binod was supposed to deposit the money abroad through hawala.
An FIR had been lodged against Koda and Binod under IPC Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 423 (fraudulent execution), 467/468 (forgery and forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120b (criminal conspiracy).
Koda, who has also been lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail since November 30, 2010, has not got bail in this case.