Former Jharkhand minister moves bail

Ranchi, Nov 25 (PTI) Former Jharkhand Minister Hari Narayan Ray, booked for financial irregularities, today pleaded to High Court that he be granted bail as the tenure of his judicial custody had overshoot the period of minimum punishment for the offence charged. His counsel Biren Poddar submitted to Justice R K Merathia of Jharkhand High Court that Rai had been in judicial custody for about 27 months while minimum punishment for the offence charged against him was only one year. The counsel also claimed that his client?s property amounted to Rs 2.92 crore as against the Eenforcement Directorate and CBI evaluation of about Rs four crore. The judge posted the hearing next month. Ray had surrendered to court in 2009 following an arrest warrant by a special vigilance court. The warrant was issued following a complaint filed by a social activist accusing him of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known source of income between 2005 and 2008 when he was a minister.