Mumbai: Special CBI Court Grants Bail To CPWD Engineer In Alleged ₹70 Lakh Bribery Case Over Wadala NOC

A special CBI court has granted bail to Vikrant Verma, a CPWD executive engineer in Mumbai, who was arrested for allegedly demanding a ₹70 lakh bribe to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) in a Wadala land deal. The court pointed out that the CBI had not obtained prior approval from the competent authority before investigating Verma, which was a requirement for his arrest.

Verma, along with his relative Saurav Kumar, Arvind Semwal, Chetan Mahajan, and A. Deshmukh, were arrested on October 2 after a trap was set to catch those accepting or giving the bribe. Verma argued that his arrest was illegal as the CBI had failed to follow the legal provisions for investigating public servants. He maintained his innocence and claimed he had an impeccable service record without any misconduct allegations.

The CBI, however, opposed his bail plea, stating they received information about the alleged bribe on September 4 and recovered property documents in Verma's family members' names during a search. The court noted the lack of prior approval for the investigation and granted bail to all the accused.