Kalmadi gets bail, walks out of Tihar

New Delhi, Jan 19 (IBNS) After more than nine months, Congress lawmaker and sports administrator Suresh Kalmadi walked out of Tihar Jail on Thursday night after he was granted bail in the Commonwealth Games corruption case by the Delhi High Court.

He was released around 730 pm, reports said. Media spotted him going out in a car.

Kalmadi, who was the CWG Organizing Committee chief but was later sacked after allegations of financial irregularities and poor organization of the Games flew thick and fast against, had to furnish a surety of Rs 5 lakh.

Another accused in the CWG scam, V K Verma also got bail, reports said.

Kalmai was lodged in the Tihar Jail.

In April last year, Kalmadi was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of awarding illegal contracts to a Swiss firm for Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games causing a loss of Rs 95 crore to the exchequer.

Meanwhile, backing VK Malhotra´s continuance as Indian Olympics Association (IOA) president, the body´s Vice-President Tarlochan Singh said on Thursday that Suresh Kalmadi, who was granted bail earlier in the day, should decide what he wants to do.

The corruption charges against the former Commonwealth Games(CWG) organising committee chairman, Kalamdi, has not just tainted CWG, but also the Olympics movement in India, he observed speaking to a news channel.

With London Olympics just few months away, Malhotra should continue as IOA president despite Kalmadi coming out of jail, Singh said.

However, the same Tarlochan Singh was quoted by NDTV as saying that Kalmadi is free to return as President.