Top Yash Birla executive gets bail in drug case

The Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic substance (NDPS) court on Saturday granted bail to Anant Vardhan Pathak, a senior Yash Birla group executive, and his two associates, who had been arrested for allegedly possessing non-commercial quantity of drugs.  The court presided over by judge A G Bilolikar granted Pathak bail on cash surety of Rs 1.5 lakh, while the other two were granted bail on cash surety of Rs 50,000 each.

Speaking to dna, special public prosecutor advocate Francis Saldanha said, “The prosecution did not oppose Pathak’s bail as it was the accused’s right to seek bail. But in order to keep a tab on Pathak, we had requested the court to impose stringent condition on the accused.”

Saldanha said the court accepted their plea and in order to keep tab on the accused, it has asked Pathak to report to the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) office every 1st and 15th day of a month. The court has also asked Pathak to submit his passport to the NCB.

Pathak, the Yash Birla group president – corporate affairs and communications, his personal security officer Dilip Palekar, 31, and his peon Dharmu Rathod, 29, face charges under sections 8(c) r/w 21 (b) (purchase, consumption and use of narcotics drugs), 28 and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.