Double suicide: Court had pulled up CBI

any more. Police sources said that Bansal was last seen on Monday night after meeting CBI officers investigating the case.

Sources present at the special CBI court on July 20, when Bansal was first granted bail following the suicides of his wife and daughter, said that the judge had observed that the agency had filed an application to “simply get Bansal to Tihar jail instead of taking necessary measures” to deal with the situation.

The court, according to sources, had said that given the situation, it was not appropriate for the court to send Bansal to judicial custody as none of his relatives were available to take care of the situation.

The court observed that the principles of natural justice, equality and, most importantly, humanity deserved special orders, sources said.

Bansal got to know about the suicides of his wife and daughter when he was produced in court on completion of police custody, said sources. Bansal was visibly shaken and had to be calmed down, they said. At the time, the court had even asked for refreshments and medical aid for Bansal on humanitarian grounds, said sources.

According to the CBI, Bansal was granted interim bail from July 20 to August 21 and regular bail on August 30.

Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who argued for Bansal’s bail, told The Indian Express that he had not met his client ever since he was granted regular bail.

“When we sought his interim bail as well as regular bail, our plea was that his son had hypertension and showed suicidal tendencies,” he said.

Bansal’s interim bail application states that following the loss of his family members, he was in depression and under treatment. “There are only two persons in the house to perform the last rites and ceremonies of his wife and daughter who committed suicide when the applicant was in police custody,” reads the plea.

“The applicant is an aggrieved person and is now in a condition where he can’t even speak properly,” it states.

The plea adds that “the only son of the applicant, who is a bachelor and is about 30 years old, is grief-stricken and has been stunned to the extent that he is not able to attend to people and is sitting like a statue”.

Bansal, an additional secretary-rank officer, was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 9 lakh from a prominent pharmaceutical company. The CBI had also carried out searches at eight locations in connection with the case.

“We came to know about the incident at 9.25 am on Tuesday. Bansal and his son Yogesh were found hanging in different rooms of their flat. The bodies have been preserved in the mortuary of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital,” said Rishi Pal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).

“The father and son left two suicide notes of seven pages in which they wrote that the CBI raid caused them great humiliation in society and that they did not want to live any more. They also mentioned details of their relatives in their suicide notes, urging us to inform them,” he said.

Asked about the court’s observations, a CBI spokesperson said, “As it is a legal matter, we will not be able to comment on it.”

In separate comments, the CBI spokesperson said, “We are deeply saddened to know the unfortunate demise of B K Bansal and his son today. The matter is being looked into by the local police... The case is under investigation. Further, the son of B K Bansal was neither an accused nor was he summoned by the CBI in the ongoing bribery investigation.”