Suspended chief engineer, Yadav Singh’s wife Kusum Lata appears before Ghaziabad court

For the first time after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered cases against Yadav Singh, the suspended chief engineer of the Noida and Greater Noida authorities, in 2015, his wife Kusum Lata appeared before a Ghaziabad court on Saturday. Her lawyers said that she has two cases against her name and appeared before the Ghaziabad court in compliance of legal orders from the Supreme Court.

Despite efforts, the CBI had failed to arrest Kusum Lata or trace her whereabouts in connection with the cases. The alleged failure on their part, led the Ghaziabad CBI court to issue multiple warrants against Kusum Lata, but they could not be executed.

“She appeared before the Ghaziabad CBI court after the Supreme Court issued an order on September 7. In the order, she was asked to appear before the lower court (in Ghaziabad) within two weeks. So she appeared and also filed her bail plea. It was heard and rejected by the Ghaziabad court. But she was not arrested, as the Supreme Court order had granted her 30 days’ time to approach the higher court in the event her bail is rejected,” Pankaj Sharma, the lawyer representing Kusum Lata, said.

Sharma added that Kusum Lata will approach Allahabad high court in a bid to obtain bail.

“She has severe health complications and this was grounds for the bail plea on Saturday. But the plea was rejected. Earlier, non-bailable warrants and orders for proclamation had been issued against her. Since she has appeared now, the orders have been set aside,” Sharma added.

In pursuance of the Allahabad high court orders of July 2015, the CBI had initially registered two cases involving Kusum Lata’s husband Singh and others. A case for corruption and conspiracy was lodged for her alleged role in the award of tenders and contracts.

The CBI, in their charge-sheet filed in connection with the case, mentioned that Singh had a close acquaintance with several top bureaucrats and state politicians. The charge-sheet also named 13 others, including Kusum Lata, who allegedly ‘arranged’ an amount of ₹50 lakh through her firm for Singh.

Another case was lodged against her for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets.

“Kusum Lata’s husband has been charge-sheeted in two cases. She has been accused of abetment in both cases,” Sharma added.

Recently, on September 7, the Ghaziabad court had framed charges against Singh, four of his family members, three companies and a trust in connection with the cases related to the alleged possession of disproportionate assets estimated to be around ₹23 crore.