Excise scam: Delhi court grants interim bail to five accused

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted interim bail to five accused in a corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

Special Judge MK Nagpal granted the interim relief while directing the CBI to file replies to their regular bail pleas by January 24.

Those who were granted interim bail include two former excise department officials, Kuldeep Singh and Narender Singh, and businessman Sameer Mahendru.

The court also granted bail to Gautam Mootha and Arun Pillai.

The interim bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and one surety of like amount.

All the five accused were not arrested during the investigation, the court noted.

Two accused, Vijay Nair and Abhishek Boinpally, were earlier granted bail by the court.

The accused had appeared before the court in pursuance to summonses issued by the court after taking cognisance of the CBI charge sheet filed against the seven accused.

Some of the accused in the case are currently in judicial custody in a related case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.