Shimla, Nov. 1 -- Himachal Pradesh high court on Friday granted bail to assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Pankaj Sharma, arrested by CBI for alleged tampering with evidence linked to the mysterious death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) chief engineer Vimal Negi. The court of justice Virender Singh, while allowing the bail plea on Friday, observed that "pre-trial punishment is prohibited under the law, as the applicant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty". The high court issued directions to grant bail to Pankaj on furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs.50,000, with one surety, in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the chief judicial magistrate, Shimla. The court noted that the CBI had failed to justify the continued judicial custody of the accused and ruled that "no useful purpose would be served by keeping the applicant in judicial custody, that too, for an indefinite period". The high court held, "The ground upon which the bail application has been opposed, i.e. seeking police custody of the applicant, in order to confront him with the evidence, so collected, is too short to decline the relief." Sharma, who was posted at Sadar police station, Shimla, was arrested by the CBI on September 14, on charges of tampering with a pen drive allegedly recovered from the possession of the deceased. The CBI had argued that the device was formatted in the police station's computer, purportedly to "screen offenders behind the death of Vimal Negi." Negi went missing on March 10 and his body was recovered from Govind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur district on March 18. Sharma was the first person to recover his pen drive and other documents and was accused of tampering with the evidence. The plea of Negi's wife was accepted by the high court and case was transferred to CBI on May 23....