By IANS,
New Delhi : After issuing a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him for not appearing for hearings, a city court Monday granted bail to former minister of state for urban development P.K. Thungan in a case relating to out-of-turn allotment of houses to government employees in 1993-1995.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge R.K. Yadav granted bail to Thungan on a surety of Rs.30,000 but fined him Rs.3,000 for not appearing in the case despite several notices.
The court had Oct 10 issued NBW against him for Oct 20. The court is likely to frame charges against Thungan and 17 others Tuesday.
However, Thungan through his counsel informed the court that he could not appear on previous hearings as his wife is suffering from brain haemorrhage and is bed-ridden.
Besides Thungan, 17 others, including the then additional personal secretary to urban development minister Sheila Kaul, were named by the CBI in 1996 for allegedly receiving illegal gratification from around 102 government employees for granting them out-of-turn accommodation.
The First Information Report was lodged on Feb 14, 1996, following a Supreme Court order on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the controversial government policy on house allotments.
According to the charge sheet, D.D. Arora, the additional personal secretary of Sheila Kaul, hatched a criminal conspiracy with his son Virender Arora and others and compelled government employees to pay them bribes for out-of-turn allotment of houses.