Delhi court reserves order on journalist Rajeev Sharma's plea

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat reserved the order on the bail plea of freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma. Adish C Aggarwala with lawyer Amish Aggarwala appeared for Sharma and stated that the journalist is being framed in a false case and has not committed any offence.

New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Monday reserved the order on the bail plea of freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma, who was recently arrested by Delhi Police under the Official Secrets Act.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat reserved the order on the bail plea after a lengthy argument advanced by prosecution and Sharma's counsel, said Senior Lawyer Adish C Aggarwala, who was appearing for the accused.

Adish C Aggarwala with lawyer Amish Aggarwala appeared for Sharma and stated that the journalist is being framed in a false case and has not committed any offence.

Sharma's lawyer also submitted that his client is a 61-year-old man, who is suffering from several medical ailments and there is a high risk to keep him in custody during COVID-19 pandemic.

Sharma's counsel said that there is no possibility of him fleeing from justice, influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.

Sharma was arrested by Special Cell under Official Secrets Act, accusing him of passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. He was arrested on September 14.

According to the police, a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate were also arrested for paying him large amounts of money routed through shell companies.

Delhi Police Special Cell said Sharma, a resident of Pitampura in New Delhi, was "found to be in possession of some defence-related classified documents".

(ANI)