Former Haryana Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal came up with an unexpected appeal in court today — smilingly refusing to be housed in the B category dormitory in Burail Jail, Bansal expressed a desire to remain with the other three accused in the case, Nirmal Singh, Rajiv Gupta and Prakash Ram, housed in the C category.

Even the Special CBI judge Jagdeep Jain was surprised. “Keeping in view his status, it is unusual that no application was filed demanding a B category for Bansal,” he said. Bansal and Rajiv Gupta, meanwhile, were remanded in judicial custody till September 13.

A piece of thread?
The former AAG’s counsel requested the court to allow Bansal to continue wearing a religious thread on his right wrist. The plea was opposed by the special public prosecutor quoting the jail manual according to which no one is allowed to wear any threads inside the jail premises for security reasons.

“It’s a very small piece of thread. Don’t worry, it cannot be used for committing suicide as the thread won’t even cover the neck completely. Moreover, if Bansal wanted to carry out such an act, he could have easily done it by now in police custody. It is only a matter of faith,” said advocate S K Vohra. Finally, the court ruled in Bansal’s favour.

Bail application
Although, the defence counsel requested the prosecutor to argue Bansal’s bail application today, the proposal was turned down. The application will come up for hearing on September 6 at 10 am.

Seeking release, the application states that the investigating agency has already taken possession of all computers, hard disks, articles and documents. “As the entire case is based on documentary evidence, keeping Bansal behind the bars would be of no use. The most pivotal point in the case is that Bansal has been arrested on the basis of suspicion alone,” reads the bail application.