CWG scam: Court to hear Lal's bail plea on June 6

A Delhi court on Monday deferred till June 6 the hearing on a bail plea of former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Deputy Director General Surjeet Lal. Lal was arrested for his alleged role in awarding a Games-related contract to a Swiss firm at an exorbitant cost.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation Judge Talwant Singh posted the matter for June 6 after Lal's counsel pleaded before the court that he would take up the arguments on that day.

The judicial custody of all the five accused -- sacked CWG OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, Secretary General Lalit Bhanot, Joint Director-General (Sports) A S V Prasad, former Director general V K Verma and Lal ends on June 6.

After hearing the bail pleas of Kalmadi and Prasad on May 26, the court had said that it would pronounce its order on the bail pleas of all the accused after arguments for the five were completed. Arguments on Lal's bail plea was not taken on that day, as there wasn't enough time for its hearing.

The five have been arrested for their role in awarding the contract for installing the Time-Scoring-Result system to a Swiss firm at an exorbitant cost of Rs 141 crore, causing a loss of over Rs 95 crore to the public exchequer.

Earlier, Kalmadi had shifted the blame for awarding the TSR contract to OC chief executive officer Jarnail Singh and had contended that the CBI had not obtained necessary sanction to prosecute him.

The CBI had in its first charge-sheet against Kalmadi and ten others, including Swiss Timing and its sub-contractor A K R Constructions, described him as "the main accused with supreme overriding powers in the OC."