Geetika suicide: Kanda's bail plea rejected

Absconding former Haryana Minister Gopal Goyal Kanda on Thursday failed to get anticipatory bail in connection with the suicide of his ex-employee Geetika Sharma by a Delhi court which said the allegations against him were 'grave and serious'.

Kanda's bail plea was rejected minutes after another court allowed the custodial interrogation of his female employee Aruna Chaddha, who has also been accused of abetting the suicide of former airhostess Sharma.

"The allegations against Kanda are grave and serious in nature, there are allegations of calls being made from other phone and SMSs have been sent to her and all this is required to be investigated thoroughly," Additional Sessions Judge Rajnish Bhatnagar said.

"The investigation is at a very intial stage and release of accused (Kanda) would hamper the investigation. Therefore, keeping in view the facts and circumstances..., the bail application lacks merit and is hereby dismissed," the judge said.

Kanda, who has been accused of abetting the suicide of Sharma, ex-airhostess of defunct MDLR airline owned by him, has not yet joined the probe, while Chaddha was arrested on Wednesday.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Devender Kumar Jangala allowed the police to interrogate Chaddha in its custody for two days as the police said she was not cooperating in the suicide probe.

The ACMM had allowed the plea of the police against Chaddha saying the investigating officer has given the specific ground for seeking police custody of the accused.

"The name of the accused was mentioned in the suicide note of the deceased... In view of the material on record and in view of the IO's submission, the two-day police custody remand of the accused is granted as prayed," the ACMM said.

Earlier in the day, Kanda sought anticipatory bail saying Sharma was a 'hypersensitive girl' with 'mixed emotions of love and hatred towards him" and she might have been 'jilted'.

K T S Tulsi appearing for the former Haryana minister, while referring to the suicide note left by Sharma, said that it showed she had a disturbed state of mind.

Tulsi had also argued that her suicide note, of August 4, showed that she had 'an element of jealousy and mixed emotions of love and hatred' towards his client.

The Delhi police, opposing Kanda's bail plea, had argued that he had been showing undue favours to Geetika ever since she was given a job as an airhostess in MDLR in 2006.

Additional Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan had said Kanda had been pressurising Geetika to come back to MDLR even when she went to join Emirates and then had lured her back by sponsoring her MBA course.

He had also said Geetika was accorded out-of-turn promotions and appreciations for no good reasons. All this, he had said, were ways to force her to join back MDLR.

However, while allowing the plea against Chaddha, the court said, "It is submitted by the public prosecutor that the accused (Chaddha) is involved in instigating the victim (Geetika) to commit suicide by hatching a criminal conspiracy in a planned and calculated manner."

"The prosecutor submits that two days police custody is required as she is not cooperating in the investigation," it noted.