JMM case: Orders on Rao's bail on Thursday

Special CBI Judge Ajit Bharihoke on Wednesday reserved till Thursday orders on the bail applications of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and eight other accused in the Rs 35 million Jharkhand Mukti Morcha members of Parliament payoffs case.

While Rao and former ministers Satish Sharma and Buta Singh, chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation on October 30, had filed their petitions for regular bail pleas earlier, six other accused who were arraigned in a second chargesheet filed on December 9, moved their applications on Wednesday.

CBI counsel A K Dutt opposed the bail applications of all nine accused.

Four other accused in the case -- JMM MP Shibhu Soren and JMM former MPs Shailendra Mahato, Suraj Mandal, and Simon Marandi -- were granted regular bail by the Delhi high court last week, ending their four-month-long incarceration in the central Tihar jail.

The six accused who moved their bail pleas on Wednesday are former Karnataka chief minister M Veerappa Moily, his erstwhile cabinet colleagues H M Revanna and Ramalinga Reddy, Congress MP V Rajeshwara Rao, and Bangalore-based businessmen D Audikeshavalu and M Thimmegowda.

All the 13 accused, including Narasimha Rao were present in the court on Wednesday. They have been chargesheeted by the CBI for allegedly being party to a criminal conspiracy to save the Narasimha Rao-led government by bribing and receiving bribes running into millions of rupees.

The four JMM leaders were allegedly paid bribes to secure their votes during a motion of no-confidence in July 1993.

UNI