Arrested GPCB officer applies for bail

Arrested on corruption charges, the head of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) office in Jamnagar, BG Sutreja, is applying for bail.

On September 24 (2020), the Gujarat High Court will decide whether to grant Sutreja bail following a rejection by the Gandhinagar district court on July 31 (2020). "The investigation is at a crucial stage," said Judge SN Solanki at the Gandhinagar hearing, in an 11-page order.

"It appears the present applicant [Sutreja] has disproportionate assets to his known sources of income and for which he could not satisfactorily account for." Solanki added: "The involvement of the accused is well established and the applicants have not made out any case of bail.

As a result of the above facts, the present application is rejected." Acting on a tip-off, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) officers arrested Sutreja on July 10 (2020) as he stepped off a bus and later discovered Rs1.38cr ($184,000) in cash, gold and silver from his home and multiple bank lockers.

Sutreja's lawyer SA Shukla argued his client has no case to answer and should be granted bail. "Gold and money recovered from Sutreja's bank accounts and home come from his monthly salary of Rs1.3 lakhs ($1774)," said Shukla.