BABUBHAI KATARA DENIED BAIL

A city court in New Delhi on June 15 rejected bail plea of Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Gujarat Babubhai Katara who was caught in human trafficking, saying the offence was “grave”. The court observed that the elected members of Parliament are the ones who frame rules and they have to follow them.
The court said that it was a serious offence and the MP could not be let off. Katara had been caught at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on April 18 when he was trying to take a woman Paramjit Kaur and a minor boy to Toronto on the passports of his wife and son.
Katara’s claims that he was travelling on genuine documents and his secretary Rajender Kumar Gumpa and middleman Yadav were to be blamed for the alleged offences were rejected by the court saying that his mobile call details had revealed close contacts with the co-accused.
The MP was alleged to have been paid Rs three lakh in advance for ensuring the travel of the woman and the teenaged boy. The “deal” was allegedly struck for Rs 36 lakh.
The court also took the police to task for failing to arrest other lawmakers whose complicity was revealed during the investigation.
“It is apparent that apart from the present accused, the needle of suspicion also points to some other persons who are highly influential being the elected representatives of the people on whom the investigating agency is yet to lay its hands,” Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau said.
Coming down heavily on the police, the magistrate sought to know why they had failed to arrest several other MPs and two Andhra Pradesh MLAs whose complicity was revealed during the probe.
“Why are you people not arresting the other leaders (MPs and MLAs) whose names have been revealed by other co-accused during their custodial interrogation,” the magistrate said.
The names of nine parliamentarians and two Andhra legislators had cropped up during the custodial interrogation of Sunder Lal Yadav, a capital-based middleman, and Hyderabad-based travel agent Rasheed.
The court had on June 6 refused to grant bail to three co-accused Kiran Dhar, Sunder Lal Yadav and Satwant, in the case saying that their release will have “detrimental effect” on the probe as the police were yet to lay theirhands on other suspected parliamentarians.
So far, the police have arrested seven persons including Katara in connection with the case.