New Delhi: Rajeev Sharma, a freelance journalist, who was arrested in September in connection with an espionage case, has been granted bail by the Delhi High Court on Friday.
The 61-year-old journalist was arrested under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking sensitive information to Chinese intelligence in September this year.
According to the reports, Justice Yogesh Khanna granted relief to Sharma as the charge sheet in the case was not filed within 60 days of his arrest. Earlier, the trial court had held that in this case, the charge sheet can be filed within 90 days.
However, the high court set aside the magisterial court’s order and said that in this case, the period for filing charge sheet would be 60 days. “The petitioner is thus entitled to default bail; the challan having not been filed within 60 days,” Justice Khanna said.
"The applicant herein is admitted on bail on his executing a personal bond of Rs 1,00,000 with a surety of the like amount. The petitioner is directed to provide his contact number and address to the SHO concerned as also he shall keep open his location app in his mobile at all time and shall not leave the NCR of Delhi without seeking permission of the trial court," the bench said.
