Hima Kohli, J.

1. The present common order shall decide the bail applications of Mr. Mahesh Kumar (petitioner in Bail Application No.1268/2013), Mr. N.R. Manjunath (petitioner in Bail Application No.1273/2013), Mr. Vijay Singla (petitioner in Bail Application No.1255/2013) and Mr. Sandeep Goyal (petitioner in Bail Application No.1274/2013), arising out of Charge-sheet No.3/2013 dated 2.7.2013 for the offences under Section 120B IPC read with Sections 7, 8 & 12 of the PC Act, 1988 in case FIR No.RC-2172013A0004.

2. The brief facts of the case registered by the respondent/CBI on 3.5.2013, are that it had received information that Mr. Mahesh Kumar (accused No.1), Member (Staff), Railway Board, was in regular contact with Mr. N.R. Manjunath (accused No.2), Managing Director of M/s. G.G. Tronics India Pvt. Ltd., and was trying to get a posting as Member (Electrical), Railway Board by illegal and wrongful means.

3. As per the charge-sheet, Mr. Mahesh Kumar and Mr. N.R. Manjunath were in contact with a private businessman/industrialist by the name of Mr. Sandeep Goyal (accused No.3), a resident of Panchkula, Haryana, who had given an assurance that he was in a position to get the aforesaid work done for them through his contacts with Mr. Vijay Singla (accused No.4), also a resident of Chandigarh, who happened to be the nephew of Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, the then Railway Minister, Central Government, by using his personal influence for pecuniary gratification. It has been alleged that for making efforts to get the posting of choice for Mr. Mahesh Kumar, Mr. Sandeep Goyal had demanded an illegal gratification to the tune of Rs.10.00 crores from Mr. Mahesh Kumar, through Mr. N.R. Manjunath. The aforesaid demand raised by Mr. Sandeep Goyal was accepted by Mr. Mahesh Kumar and it was agreed that Rs.5.00 crores would be paid in cash before the appointment and the balance amount of Rs.5.00 crores after his appointment as Member (Electrical), Railway Board.

4. As per the respondent/CBI, Mr. N.R. Manjunath and two other accused, namely, Mr. Rahul Yadav (accused No.6) and Mr. Sameer Sandhir (accused No.7), both businessmen/industrialists, who were having dealings with the Railways, thought that if they would manage to get Mr. Mahesh Kumar posted as Member (Electrical), Railway Board, they would stand to gain in their business. In fact, the chargesheet states that Mr. Mahesh Kumar had promised Mr. N.R. Manjunath, Mr. Rahul Yadav and Mr. Sameer Sandhir that if appointed to the aforesaid post, he would oblige them by extending official favours to them. Based on the aforesaid assurance given by Mr.Mahesh Kumar, Mr. N.R. Manjunath had agreed to arrange a sum of Rs.2.00 crores for paying the illegal gratification to Mr. Sandeep Goyal, by approaching other businessmen/industrialists who had dealings with the Railways for garnering the said funds. It is alleged that for executing this plan, Mr. Sandeep Goyal had demanded an illegal gratification of Rs.2.00 crores to be paid immediately and he had agreed that the balance amount could be paid after Mr. Mahesh Kumar was appointed to the post of Member (Electrical), Railway Board.

5. According to the charge-sheet, the aforesaid offer was being vigorously pursued by Mr. N.R. Manjunath, Mr. Sandeep Goyal and Mr. Vijay Singla. In the meantime, Mr. Mahesh Kumar came to be appointed as Member (Staff), Railway Board on 18.4.2013. When Mr.N.R. Manjunath, Mr. Sandeep Goyal and Mr. Vijay Singla realized that they could not manage the desired appointment for Mr. Mahesh Kumar, the latter asked Mr. N.R. Manjunath and Mr. Sandeep Goyal to explore another option and manage for him the additional charge of S&T Directorate from the portfolio of Member (Electrical), Railway Board alongwith the additional charge of General Manager, Western Railways.

6. Finally, on 30.4.2013, Mr. N.R. Manjunath had allegedly informed Mr. Sandeep Goyal that 25% of the illegal gratification would be paid to him if the second opt