Bail denied to man held for selling fake O2 cylinders

New Delhi: A man arrested for allegedly tampering with a

fire extinguisher

and converting it into an oxygen cylinder has been refused

bail

by a magisterial

court

, which observed that the possibility of him committing a similar crime couldn't be ignored.

Metropolitan magistrate Bharat Aggarwal was acting on a plea for interim bail of Ravi Sharma, who was slapped with charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, disobeying orders promulgated by a public servant under the Indian Penal Code and a related offence under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The man sought interim bail on the ground that he had earlier tested Covid-19 positive and hadn’t fully recovered.

The court, however, underscored that the allegations against him were serious as he had reportedly been involved in converting fire extinguishers into

oxygen cylinders

. “Considering the gravity of the offence and involvement of the

accused

in cheating pertaining to equipment related to Covid-19, the court is not inclined to release him on interim bail,” the order stated.

It also came on record that the investigation was pending and other accused were yet to be arrested. “In such circumstances, the possibility of the accused of tampering with evidence or again committing a similar crime, if released on bail, cannot be ignored,” added the court.

Sharma’s counsel earlier contended that he was entitled to bail keeping in mind the jail decongestion guidelines laid down by the high-powered committee of the Delhi high court. The lawyer argued that Sharma was no longer required for custodial interrogation and therefore he ought to be granted bail.

The investigating officer of the case, on the contrary, highlighted that the accused was involved in other cases and was a “habitual offender”.

Meanwhile, another court of chief metropolitan magistrate Atul Krishna Agrawal refused to grant bail to a man, Rohit Srivastava, arrested in case of black-marketing of Remdesivir and other Covid-19 related resources. While the general public in Delhi is facing immense hardship, a few people have used this opportunity to make money by unfair means, the court noted.