New Delhi, Apr.11 : The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a bail application of income tax officer Ashutosh Verma, a co-accused in a case of manipulation of evidence on the alleged kickbacks received by arms dealer Suresh Nanda in defence deals.

Asking the probe agency to file its reply on April 21, Justice G S Sistani posted the matter for further hearing on April 23.

Appearing for Verma, senior counsel Chetan Sharma and advocate Pramod Dubey submitted that there was no evidence against the officer of taking bribe from Nandas.

They also submitted that there was no circumstantial evidence to corroborate the allegations of the CBI.

Income Tax deputy director (investigation) Verma, along with Nanda, his son Sanjeev -- also an accused in the BMW hit-and-run case -- and their chartered accountant Bipin Shah are presently in judicial custody after their arrest by the CBI from a Mumbai hotel on March 8.

According to the CBI, Verma, a 1999-batch IRS officer, had received huge bribe for evasion of income tax on the part of Nanda and also purchased a `benami` property in Goa.

The court had yesterday issued a notice to the CBI, seeking its reply on the bail pleas of Nanda and two others. (ANI with inputs)

ANI