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Urea scam accused gets out on bail after 9 months

The Delhi High Court today granted conditional bail to Malessam Goud, accused in the Rs 1,330 million urea scandal, but directed him to surrender his passport to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Justice D K Jain directed Malessam Goud's release on a personal bond of Rs 100,000 and a surety of like amount.

The judge imposed several conditions before granting bail, including the deposit of Goud's passport with the CBI to ensure that he does not leave the country without the permission of the agency or the court.

Goud was also directed not to tamper with any evidence.

An employee of Turkish company Karsan's Indian agent Sambasiva Rao, Goud was remanded to judicial custody on January 12 after appearing before the trial court.

After the special judge trying the case rejected his bail application thrice, Goud moved the high court.

The two Turkish officials of Karsan Ltd -- Cihan Karanchi and Tunkey Alankus -- who are the prime accused in the case, are also lodged in Tihar jail. They are charged with not supplying the urea that the National Fertilisers Ltd had paid for.

The CBI has charged nine persons, including B Sanjeeva Rao, a relative of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, on charges of forgery and cheating.

Among the other accused are foreign national A E Pinto, who allegedly brokered the deal, former NFL managing director C K Ramakrishnan, charged with paying the entire contracted amount to Karsan without receiving any urea, and former NFL executive director D S Kanwar.

Sambasiva Rao of Hyderabad, who was Karsan's Indian agent, and Prakash Chandra Yadav, son of former Union chemicals and fertilisers minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, are the other prominent accused.

UNI

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