Railways bribery scam: Pawan Bansal seeks exemption on health grounds

New Delhi: Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who was summoned as a witness in the Rs 10 crore cash-for-post railway bribery case, today sought exemption from personal appearance on health grounds before a special court. Bansal’s lawyer Puneet Ahluwalia moved an application before Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma saying that the Congress leader is suffering from viral fever and would appear before the court on the next date. “He (Bansal) is suffering from viral fever. He will appear whenever the court directs him to come,” he said. The court, however, said that it would hear the application at 11.30 AM, as it will record statement of one other CBI witness, who has appeared before it. [caption id=“attachment_774777” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Pawan Kumar Bansal in this file photo. PTI[/caption] Bansal, who resigned as Railway Minister after the case came to light, was named as a prosecution witness in the case in which his nephew Vijay Singla is one of the accused along with suspended Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar and others. The court had commenced the trial in the case yesterday. CBI court had sent the summons to Bansal to appear before it today for recording of his statement as a prosecution witness. The court had yesterday recorded statements of Vinay Mittal, the then Railway Board chairman and senior Railway ministry official Jagmohan Rawat, who had given sanction to prosecute accused Mahesh Kumar. CBI had charge sheeted 10 accused, including Vijay Singla and Mahesh Kumar, in the case last year. PTI