O2 Concentrator Case: Delhi Court Grants Bail to Navneet Kalra

Navneet Kalra, the owner of Khan Chacha restaurant, was arrested by the Delhi Police on 16 May.

Navneet Kalra, who owns Khan Chacha and Town Hall restaurants in Delhi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A Delhi Court on Saturday, 29 May, granted bail to Navneet Kalra, the owner of Khan Chacha restaurant, in the oxygen concentrator black marketing case.

Kalra was arrested by the Delhi Police on 16 May, after cops received information about black marketing of oxygen concentrators in some of the restaurants. Acting on the information, the police raided the Nege and Ju Bar, located at the Lodhi Road Central Market and recovered three dozen concentrators.

Judge Arun Kumar Garg directed Kalra not to contact anyone whom he sold the oxygen concentrators. The Delhi Police have opposed Kalra's bail plea in the court, stating that his intention was to cheat persons in a vulnerable condition and make profit.

The court, while granting bail, imposed three conditions on him - he will not tamper with the evidence in the case, make no attempt to influence the witnesses and he will also join the investigation whenever required.

Kalra was granted bail subject to a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties of the like amount. The police had cited a report from the medical devices testing laboratory and argued that the seized oxygen concentrators were useless and in fact, harmful for the persons using them.

Kalra's counsel argued that no purpose would be served by keeping his client in pre-trial detention as no more recoveries have to be made from him. The court had earlier dismissed Delhi Police’s plea seeking five days’ police custody of Kalra in the case.

Kalra had reportedly bought the concentrators from Matrix Cellular, which had imported them at a cost of Rs 16,000 to Rs 22,000 each and sold them for Rs 70,000 each.

(With inputs from IANS.)