Conditional bail for traffic consultant

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 3. The renowned traffic consultant, Dr. N. S. Srinivasan, arrested by the CB-CID in connection with the `mini- flyover scam case', was granted conditional bail by the Principal Sessions Judge, Mr. S. Ashok Kumar, today.

The Judge directed the counsel of the petitioner to furnish a personal bond for Rs. 10,000 and two sureties for like sum each. Allowing him to stay in Bangalore, where he is to take up a Karnataka Government assignment on July 7, the Judge directed Mr. Srinivasan to sign at the CB-CID office in Chennai at 10.30 a.m. every Sunday.

His counsel, Mr. M. Venkatraman, noted that Mr. Srinivasan was a traffic engineer of international repute, having done projects for the United Nations and the World Bank, besides the Asian Games in Delhi and the World Tamil Conference in Thanjavur.

Noting that Mr. Srinivasan was involved in the Chennai Corporation's flyover project purely on an honorary basis, the counsel pointed out that he had no decision-making authority on behalf of the Corporation or the Mayor. Moreover, he was not involved in the finance matters of the project.

The special counsel of the prosecution, Mr. I. Subramaniam, also gave an undertaking endorsing the release of Mr. Srinivasan on conditional bail ``in the context of the fact that he will not flee from justice and has roots in Chennai''.

Anticipatory bail granted

In a related development, the retired Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government, Mr. A. P. Muthusamy, who is the 12th accused in the case, was granted anticipatory bail by the same Judge.

The Judge directed the petitioner to appear before the Investigating Officer of the case in the CB-CID office on July 20. He was also asked to execute a personal bond for Rs. 10,000 with sureties of like sum each. He should stay within the Chennai city limits and sign at the CB-CID office at 10.30 a.m. every Sunday.

Mr. Muthusamy had filed the anticipatory application on Monday, noting that he had not violated any provisions of law and there was no ``specific, overt act'' alleged against him. He maintained that he had been implicated in the case due to political reasons.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Fast, overcrowding put jail officials in a fix
Next     : Jaya visit kept police on their toes