"Fence eating crops": CBI says while opposing bail plea of its official in corruption case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has opposed the bail plea of its official colleague in Delhi High Court in the illegal gratification case stating that offence is like the fence eating the crops as his job was to detect corruption, but he himself has been found accused of the corrupt practices.

The CBI further said that prima facie material to show that the offence is committed to subverting an investigation in another offence.

CBI also said that the present offence is committed by a police officer and a lawyer, both of whom are obliged to protect and preserve the sanctity of the legal system in India.

"The present offence must be treated as an extremely serious one for the reason of its commission and the persons who have committed it. It is respectfully submitted that in our criminal jurisprudence if a Lawyer and the Police are permitted to make 'arrangements' and then are let off lightly, the entire criminal jurisprudence will collapse," the CBI said while opposing bail plea of its official Abhishek Tiwari and lawyer Anand Dilip Daga.

CBI's Sub Inspector Abhishek Tiwari and lawyer Anand Daga were arrested in connection with an alleged corruption case for leaking information of a separate case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

"The CBI said that there is prima facie material to show that the offence is committed tosubvert an investigation in another offence. Therefore, the present is a case of commission of the offence to prevent an investigation into another serious offence by illegal means," the agency said.

CBI submission came on an affidavit filed in the response to a bail application filed by CBI's official Abhishek Tiwari.

The investigating agency told the court that the Tiwari, who was an officer of the CBI whose duty was to detect and bring to justice those who were involved in corrupt practices but who has now himself been found accused of the corrupt practices.

"The offence is thus very serious and as the petitioner has the clout and knowledge regarding practices of investigation, the release of the petitioner may become detrimental to a fair and proper investigation. The offence herein is a case of corruption and more so of the fence eating the crops," CBI said in its affidavit.

CBI submitted that the investigation is ongoing in the instant FIR and given the background of the petitioner and clout of the parties involved in the predicate FIR which was sought to be derailed, the petitioner does not deserve the grant of bail.

CBI further submitted the investigation of the case is in an initial stage and the accused petitioner is facing allegations of a very serious nature and there is all likelihood that if the accused petitioner is released on bail, he may, in all likelihood, tamper with the evidences and influence the witnesses and in view of severity of punishment prescribed for the offences committed by him, may also abscond, which may be very detrimental to the investigation and the justice.

Tiwari, in his bail application filed through advocates Meenesh Dubey and Abdhesh Chaudhary told the court that Tiwari had been in illegal detention since August 30 and was arrested only on September 1.

Earlier a Special Judge of trial court had dismissed the bail pleas of accused Abhishek Tiwari and other accused lawyer Daga.

Currently, both of them are undergoing judicial custody.

CBI had arrested its Sub Inspector Abhishek Tiwari and lawyer Anand Daga for his alleged role in the 'manipulation' of preliminary inquiry against Deshmukh in connection with the extortion case.

The arrests came after the CBI registered an FIR against the sub-inspector, a Nagpur-based Advocate, and unknown persons on certain allegations, including illegal gratification.

On August 29, a report that was allegedly part of a preliminary inquiry conducted by CBI got leaked in media. The report mentions that the agency had concluded that "no cognizable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh".

The CBI in its internal inquiry found that Deshmukh's legal team tried to bribe some lower-ranked CBI officials in its preliminary inquiry. Strict action will be taken against the staff who were involved in the case. The investigation is underway to find out if more people were involved in the conspiracy to manipulate the documents.

( With inputs from ANI )