Calcutta, Feb. 16: Trinamul vice-president Rajat Majumdar was today granted bail by Calcutta High Court in the Saradha Realty case.

The counsel for Majumdar told the court that the former director-general of state armed police had spent 160 days in custody and the CBI had failed to gather any evidence against him.

Majumdar is the second accused with Trinamul links to be granted bail in the Saradha Realty case. On February 4, the Alipore sessions judges' court granted bail to Srinjoy Bose, a day after which he resigned from Trinamul and expressed his desire to quit as Rajya Sabha MP.

The CBI had arrested Majumdar on September 9 last year for his alleged role in siphoning off Saradha money. In the chargesheet submitted in court, he has been accused of misappropriation of funds, conspiracy and cheating.

Majumdar, who retired as police officer in 2008, formally joined Trinamul in 2010. During the 2013 panchayat elections, he was made the party's observer for Birbhum.

The division bench of Justices Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Indrajit Chatterjee today granted bail to Majumdar against a surety of Rs 1 lakh. Majumdar was directed to surrender his passport and stay in the areas under the jurisdiction of Calcutta and Bidhannagar police. He was also asked to report to the CBI office in Salt Lake once a week.

Majumdar's counsel Anindya Mitra and Milon Mukherjee told the court that the CBI could neither submit any evidence of their client's alleged involvement in the Saradha scam nor prove that he was part of the company's cash-collection business.

"Why should my client rot in jail? Bail is a right," Mitra told the high court. "The CBI has not even made any plea to interrogate him in jail. So it is to be believed that he is not required any more now."

The CBI's lawyer, Ashraf Ali, opposed Majumdar's bail prayer, arguing that he was a former IPS officer and had good contacts across the state. If released, he could influence witnesses and tamper with evidence, the CBI counsel said.

Ali told the court that Majumdar was a vital cog in the Saradha wheel because he was one of the presidents of the Saradha Group.

"There is no clarity on the Saradha deal with Majumdar as part of which he drew a monthly salary of Rs 10 lakh," the CBI counsel said. "He was with the Saradha Group for 14 months but it is not known how he became president from a security adviser."