New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Tuesday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, wanted in connection with the suicide of former flight attendant Geetika Sharma.
Justice P.K. Bhasin reserved the order after counsel appearing for Kanda and Delhi Police concluded their arguments.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sidharth Luthra, appearing for police, sought Kanda’s custodial interrogation to find out the conspiracy between him and co-accused Aruna Chaddha, senior executive in Kanda’s group now under arrest.
Senior advocate K.T.S. Tusli, who represented Kanda, sought anticipatory bail for him and said suicide notes left behind by Geetika could not be taken as gospel truth.
“Suicide letters are written in anger and so any allegations can be levelled out of anger,” he said.
Luthra said Kanda’s questioning was needed to access his computers and laptops which were missing from his office.
Opposing Kanda’s anticipatory bail plea, the ASG said: “The conduct of not joining the investigation, removal of all electronic items, including his laptop and his computers from office, is a case for refusal of anticipatory bail.”
“We have a problem in investigation. When we went to Kanda’s office, there were no computers,” police counsel told the court.
The ASG urged the court to dismiss the anticipatory bail plea of Kanda as he had been absconding despite a notice served upon him to join the investigation.
He said that the investigation was at a preliminary stage and custodial interrogation was necessary.
Seeking anticipatory bail for Kanda, Tulsi said that some other evidence was required to hold Kanda responsible for Geetika’s suicide.
“I may be fond of her, she may be fond of me but that does not mean I incite her to commit suicide,” Kanda’s counsel said.
“The reasons given by the trial court while dismissing anticipatory bail were that there was misuse of power by me, I have given preferential treatment to Geetika and I exploited her, but these are not offences under offence of abetment for commission of suicide,” Tulsi said.
Geetika, who worked in Kanda’s group, was found hanging from the ceiling of her house here on the night of Aug 4-5.
She left behind two suicide notes, blaming Kanda and Chaddha for her suicide.
Kanda’s anticipatory bail plea was dismissed Aug 9 by a sessions court that said allegations against him were grave and serious and his bail plea had no merit.
The former Haryana minister was booked for abetment to Geetika’s suicide and criminal intimidation. He is yet to appear before Delhi Police for questioning.
– IANS
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