Mumbai: The special CBI court has granted bail to junior passport assistant Aakash Rathee, who was arrested by the CBI on May 5 for allegedly helping agents obtain passports using fake documents, observing that there is no evidence to show that the fake documents were prepared by him.
Following his remand to CBI custody along with agent Sanjeev Rahi, Rathee's lawyer Rajendra Rathod applied for bail, arguing that the official had no involvement in approving the passport applications allegedly submitted with fake documents.
CBI had claimed that Rathee was involved with various agents and was receiving bribes from them. Besides, the agency claimed that the duo were involved in facilitating one Manoj Jadhav to obtain a passport. CBI claimed that scrutiny of documents revealed that Jadhav had submitted a fake address proof, and other documents submitted by him were found to be fake.
Rathee’s lawyer, however, refuted the claim saying he has neither verified or scrutinised the said passports nor done any work related to the same. The plea was objected by the CBI prosecutor stating enlarging him on bail at this stage will be detrimental to the interest of investigation and further recovery of material evidence. The court after hearing the arguments noted that there is no prima facie evidence to show that the alleged fake documents were prepared by Rathee.
