Kalmadi with his wife at home after his release. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, Jan. 19: Fallen sports czar Suresh Kalmadi walked free from Tihar jail this evening after Delhi High Court granted him bail in the Commonwealth Games scam where the sacked organising committee chief is facing trial for alleged corruption.

The Congress MP from Pune had been in custody for 270 days since his arrest last April.

“The release order reached the trial court this evening. It forwarded the order to us,” DG (prisons) Neeraj Kumar said.

Kalmadi was among 15-odd VIPs and high-profile executives arrested last year in the Games and spectrum scams, two scandals that rocked Parliament in a testing year for the government.

With Kalmadi getting bail, only two high-profile inmates — former telecom minister A. Raja and ex-telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura — will remain in Tihar in connection with the 2G case. All the others, including DMK MP Kanimozhi and five telecom bosses, have got bail.

Kalmadi was arrested on April 25, six months after the 2010 Games concluded, on the charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption in awarding a contract to a Swiss firm that led to an alleged loss of Rs 95 crore to the exchequer.

The high court also granted bail to former CWG director-general V.K. Verma, a co-accused in the Games scandal.

“There is no allegation that the petitioners are likely to flee from justice and will not be available for the trial,” Justice Mukta Gupta said.

The judge asked the two to furnish bail bonds of Rs 5 lakh each and two sureties of similar amount and told them not to leave the country without permission from the trial court.

Kalmadi had moved the high court earlier this month after being denied bail by the trial court.

“There is also no evidence that the petitioner is threatening witnesses or interfering with evidence during investigation or trial,” Justice Gupta said.

The CBI opposed the bail pleas of both Kalmadi, the prime accused, and Verma, saying the trial court had on January 4 decided that the case would be heard on a day-to-day basis soon after scrutiny of documents.

Besides Kalmadi and Verma, nine others are accused of conspiring to favour the Switzerland-based private firm while awarding the contract for timing, scoring and result system at an inflated cost of Rs 141 crore.

They include former Games organising committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, director-general (procurement) Surjit Lal, joint director-general (sports) A.S.V. Prasad and treasurer M. Jayachandran.