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16 hours ago - In Modi's India, Bully-Justice India News Jailed India Analyst Is Freed on Bail By Geeta Anand Dec. 15, 2014 4:37 a.m. ET GURGAON, India—An Indian research ...

India News

Jailed India Analyst Is Freed on Bail

By

Geeta Anand

Dec. 15, 2014 4:37 a.m. ET

 

GURGAON, India—An Indian research analyst has been released from jail where he was being held on complaints filed more than two years ago by one of India’s biggest property and financial-services companies after he co-authored a negative report on the company.

Nitin Mangal Neeraj Monga

Nitin Mangal, who until this year worked for Veritas Investment Research Corp. was held for more than two weeks after property and finance conglomerate Indiabulls said the report published by Veritas more than two years ago questioning its corporate governance was full of lies and was used for extortion purposes.
Mr. Mangal said the report was based on public information, was accurate and wasn’t used for extortion.
“I’ve been honest all my life, and I never thought I’d land in jail,” said Mr. Mangal, in an interview Monday, after being released Friday from the jail in Gurgaon, a suburb of New Delhi. “Those 12 days were like 12 years.”
Mr. Mangal posted bail of 50,000 rupees, or $833, and he has been ordered to reappear in court in Gurgaon for a hearing on Feb. 26. He could still face charges if police decide there is enough evidence in the case. If charged and convicted, Mr. Mangal faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
Human-rights advocates and an investor-advocacy group have denounced the arrest, saying it could dampen criticism of companies on India’s stock market, which some investors say needs more scrutiny.
The day the report was made publicly available, Aug. 8, 2012, Indiabulls filed criminal police complaints in two cities, Mumbai and Gurgaon, where two group companies are located. In early 2013, a Mumbai court granted Mr. Mangal anticipatory bail, or protection from arrest, on the allegations in the police complaint, which include extortion, criminal intimidation and defamation, and the investigation appeared to grind to a halt.
But on Nov. 25 this year Mr. Mangal was arrested by police in Gurgaon, where he had not been granted anticipatory bail. He was held in police custody for six days, and was then in jail for 12. A magistrate court in Gurgaon initially denied him bail on Dec. 1, noting Indiabulls opposed his release, but another court granted him bail last Thursday, and he was released the next evening.
The Thursday move came after Indiabulls dropped its opposition to his release while police determine whether they will file charges in court.
In India, people can be arrested and jailed based on police complaints that are considered serious, even if no charges have been filed.

Sinchan Mitra 10 hours ago

Truly amazing that Indian media hasn't even covered this story - although normally they pretend to be concerned about every kind of injustice and shout and scream at trivial things at the slightest provocation. The corporate control over Indian media is nearly absolute. I cannot remember a single story based on corporate wrongdoing in Indian media, based on real investigative journalism. They literally genuflect in front of money and corporations in a way that would shame WSJ, a business friendly newspaper.

 Source: WSJ

..and I am Sid Harth