A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court discharged businessman and arms dealer Abhishek Verma and his wife in a bribery case today, according to an ANI report.

Verma, who is embroiled in numerous cases – including those of forgery and violation of the Official Secrets Act – was accused in this instance of receiving bribes from German defence conglomerate Rheinmetall to influence officials in the Defence Ministry. The company had been blacklisted by the ministry in 2009 on the recommendation of the CBI after it was accused of bribing the then Director General of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) to secure a defence contract. “When this matter of blacklisting was under process, Abhishek Verma got in touch with the representatives of RAD [Rheinmetall] and assured them of help by influencing the public servants to stall the process of aforesaid blacklisting of RAD,” according to the CBI’s chargesheet.