CBI seizes cash from Bar Council of India Vice-Chairman's residence

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, the hindu
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The Central Bureau of Investigation conducted searches at the office and residence of R. Dhanapal Raj, Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council of India, and seized cash to the tune of several lakhs of rupees, sources in the agency said.

The searches were conducted hours after Rajinder Singh Rana, member of the Bar Council of India, was detained by the CBI in New Delhi on Monday night in connection with a corruption case. Both Dhanapal Raj and Rana are members of the council's Legal Education Committee. Apart from the office/residence of Raj, searches were also conducted in the house of his relative. A total of Rs.74 lakh were seized during the operation that concluded late on Tuesday, the sources added.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted interim anticipatory bail for four weeks to Dhanapal Raj and his brother-in-law, A. Chandrasekar, in connection with the case of corruption registered against them.

Justice Aruna Jagadeesan granted the interim advance bail on a petition by the two who said that they apprehended arrest by CBI for a case registered under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) IPC and Sections 7,8, 12, 13 (2) read with 13 (1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act. The petitioners submitted that during searches in Mr. Raj's house on Monday, Rs.28.50 lakh was found in a bag with a Bar Council member, Adikesavulu, and Rs.60,000 was found in a bedroom. A sum of Rs.45 lakh was seized from the residence of his brother-in-law.

They said they were innocent. They had sufficient proof to submit that the currency seized was accounted for. It was kept for the purchase of land. The money recovered from Mr. Chandrasekar's residence belonged to his family members. There were proper accounts to show valid possession. The other records had nothing to do with the case registered. The petitioners were ready to offer explanation to the CBI. They would cooperate with the investigating agency.

Mr. Dhanapal Raj said he had put in 30 years of experience at the Bar and held several dignified posts. Further, he was appearing as prosecutor for many Central and State Government agencies.

The petitioners said they were ready to abide by any conditions that would be imposed by the court.

In her order, Ms. Justice Aruna Jagadeesan said the petitioners should be released on bail in the event of their arrest or their appearance before the CMM, Egmore, on their executing a personal bond each for Rs.50,000.

Within four weeks, they should appear before the concerned court of jurisdiction for anticipatory bail. They should not tamper with the two bank lockers which were yet to be opened. The other conditions included that they should not leave the country without the court's permission. They should make themselves available for interrogation.

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Lawyers snatch CBI bribe catch

The Telegraph Calcutta CORRESPONDENT

RS Rana being taken to a New Delhi court on Tuesday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Dec. 21: A CBI team searching the home of a Bar Council of India member who was caught red-handed taking bribe was last night attacked by a bamboo-wielding mob headed by three advocates.

The mob of around 40 people barged into R.S. Rana’s north Delhi house around 10pm while an eight-member team was at work, beat up an inspector and fled with incriminating documents and about Rs 6.8 lakh in “bribe money” found on the premises, CBI sources said.

The agency had sprung a raid on Rana’s Pitampura residence around 7pm, two hours after he was caught accepting a Rs 1 lakh bribe from Manish Tyagi, a member of the advisory board of a Ghaziabad law college, in front of the Bar council office. Both were immediately arrested.

A law college cannot start operations unless it is affiliated to the Bar Council of India.

“As our team was conducting searches, a violent mob overpowered the team which had seized a huge amount of cash suspected to be part of illegal gratification received by Rana,” a senior CBI officer said.

“They manhandled our team, beat up an inspector and fled with part of the seized cash amounting to Rs 6.8 lakh and incriminating documents seized from Rana’s house.”

According to the officer, the CBI team had noticed a group of about 15 persons gathering around Rana’s home and sniffed trouble. When they began raising slogans, the team called the local police station for help.

Although four policemen showed up, the mob began to swell. Around 10pm, around 40 people armed with bamboos stormed the home. “They manhandled our team,” CBI spokesperson R.K. Gaur said.

The CBI has filed a complaint against the three advocates and their accomplices for assaulting government servants and preventing them from discharging their duty.

A case has been registered against Rana for accepting bribe to give the law college a favourable affiliation report. A Delhi court today dismissed his bail petition and granted the CBI custody of Rana for two days.

“Tyagi had paid most part of the bribe to Rana. Only a lakh was to be paid on Monday. Our officers laid a trap and arrested them both,” a CBI officer said, adding the agency had been monitoring his phone calls.

Rana alleged at the CBI headquarters that the agency was trying to frame him. He was elected to the Bar Council of Delhi in 1998 and to the Bar Council of India this year.

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