Congress RTI activist Shailendra Singh released on bail

Lucknow, Oct 2 (IANS) The Lucknow district court Wednesday granted bail to Shailendra Singh, chairman of the state Congress Right to Information (RTI) unit, officials said.

Singh, who had resigned from provincial police service and joined Congress in 2004, was arrested Sep 26 for allegedly creating ruckus in the state chief information commissioner's office and manhandling senior CIC officials.

"Additional district judge, Shashikant, granted him bail on a surety of Rs.20,000,' a court official told IANS.

The decision came after the defence lawyers argued that the case against Singh was politically motivated and the accused had served as a deputy superintendent of police earlier.

Besides various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Singh was also booked under section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act. The court had earlier rejected his bail application when he was produced in the court on the day of his arrest.

Singh was arrested in the wee hours of Sep 26 and the police was 'forced' to break into his house to 'nab' him.

'We broke the doors of his house after he (Singh) refused to open the door despite repeated requests,' Additional Director General of Police (law and order, crime) Brijlal had said after Singh's arrest.