NEW DELHI: A court here today rejected a plea by the
CBI for five-days custody of journalist
Upendra Rai, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in dubious financial transactions.
The court sent him to 14-day judicial custody till May 23.
"I am rejecting your application," Special CBI Judge
Santosh Snehi Mann said in response to the investigative agency's argument that the scribe's custodial interrogation was necessary to carry forward the investigation.
CBI counsel
Manoj Shukla sought five-day custody of
Rai, saying certain new grounds had come up and the journalist was required to be confronted with them.
The agency stated that the journalist's bank locker was to be searched for which his presence was required, but Rai's counsel argued that they could open the locker without his presence.
The CBI had on May 3 arrested the Delhi-based scribe for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions and getting an airport access pass made by the
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information.
