AAP MLA Gulab Singh granted bail in extortion case

AAP MLA and incharge of its Gujarat affairs Gulab Singh Yadav, arrested in an extortion case, was granted bail on Wednesday by a Delhi court which said no useful purpose would be served by keeping him in custody. Metropolitan Magistrate Kishor Kumar granted relief to the politician on furnishing of a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety of like amount.

Yadav had sought bail on the ground that other co-accused had already been granted the relief and the ingredient of section 384 (punishment for extortion) of IPC was not present. Advocate Jitender Solanki, who appeared for the MLA, said no money transaction has come on record and no purpose would be served by keeping him custody.

The bail plea was opposed by the police on the ground that he was the main accused in the case and everything had happened at his instance. It also said that he was an influential person and could tamper with evidence and influence witnesses and if granted the relief.

Delhi's Matiala legislator, who was brought by the police from Gujarat, was sent to judicial custody on Tuesday by the court which had declined the police application seeking five- day police custody. Last month, two property dealers, Deepak Sharma and Rinku Diwan, had alleged that Satish and Devinder, who worked in Yadav's office, and an associate Jagdish were extorting money from them by threatening to get a building, where the property dealers were operating from, demolished.

A case under section 384 (punishment for extortion) IPC was registered at Bindapur police station on September 13. Following this, a non-bailable warrant was issued against the MLA by a court here on October 14 for allegedly not joining probe. Police had alleged that the MLA was arrested under charge of running an extortion racket and there was concrete evidence against him for his arrest.