HC grants bail to customs officer arrested by CBI in bribery case

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court (HC) has granted bail to a customs officer arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January in a bribery case. The court observed that the officer, Vineet Dhattarwal, was in jail for around two months, and further detention was not warranted since the investigation had concluded.

Dhattarwal was accused of demanding a bribe of ₹4 lakh, which was reduced to ₹2.5 lakh after negotiations, to clear a Gujarat-based firm’s import consignment. The CBI’s Mumbai unit arrested him on January 7. A court in Alibag had rejected his bail plea on January 16.

Granting Dhattarwal bail, a single-judge bench of justice NR Borkar said, “The applicant is in jail for about two months. As the investigation is over, further detention of the applicant is not warranted. Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, I am inclined to release the applicant on bail.”

Dhattarwal was released on Monday, when the high court’s order was signed and uploaded on its website, according to his lawyer, Dr Sujay Kantawala.

The CBI case was registered on November 21 last year, based on a complaint from a representative of a firm based in Vadodara, Gujarat, which is in the business of importing chemicals. According to the complaint, Dhattarwal had allegedly demanded a bribe via a co-accused for facilitating the clearance of an import consignment comprising a chemical product that arrived at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) from the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in September 2024.

Dhattarwal, who was working as a superintendent in the customs department at the time, allegedly detained the shipment intentionally. During a subsequent examination, the samples of the chemical from the shipment were sent for testing, after which a customs laboratory cleared the release of the consignment.

The accused, however, contended that he was innocent. His counsel submitted that the department where Dhattarwal was posted is headed by the commissioner of customs, who takes all the final decisions after investigation and submission of reports.

Dhattarwal’s lawyer told the court that he was not the final authority to order the release of the shipment, and his role as a superintendent was very limited. Therefore, the question of demanding a bribe to release the shipment did not arise, he argued.