AgustaWestland case: Delhi HC rejects bail plea of Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri

Source: indiatoday.in

Trouble is mounting for Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri. The Delhi High Court has rejected his bail plea in a money-laundering probe related to the AgustaWestland case.

Ratul Puri has been under the probe scanner of the ED in connection with the high-profile AgustaWestland VVIP choppers corruption case.

He was facing a non-bailable warrant issued by a court after the ED submitted to it that the businessman might try to tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses “as he already did earlier”.

The order was passed by Justice Sunil Gaur, who heard the arguments of the counsels for Enforcement Directorate and Puri earlier in the day.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Puri, contended that he was cooperating in the investigation and legal malice and vendetta were writ large in the agency’s conduct.

Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, representing ED, opposed the plea saying Puri was evasive in his replies to the agency during investigations and his answers were ex-facie misleading.

He said evasiveness of reply is a ground to seek his custodial interrogation.

The ED on Monday told the court that Ratul Puri was evading probe in the AgustaWestland chopper scam-related money laundering case.

The agency opposed Puri’s plea and said it had called him on various occasions, including on Sunday and Monday, but he did not appear.

Puri, in his plea through advocate Vijay Aggarwal, had challenged the August 6 order of the trial court dismissing his anticipatory bail plea.

On August 9, the trial court issued a non-bailable warrant against Puri on ED’s plea.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary, AgustaWestland.

The deal was scrapped by the NDA government in 2014 over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks for securing the deal.

According to the ED, the proceeds of the crime have been deposited in the accounts of different companies owned by Puri and he is a key link to unearth the modus operandi adopted by the other accused and to determine last-mile connectivity of the proceeds.

On Tuesday, Ratul Puri was arrested by the ED in a fresh case of money laundering linked to an alleged Rs 354 crore bank loan fraud.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday dubbed the arrest of his nephew Ratul Puri in a money laundering case as “action with malicious intention”, even as the BJP said the Enforcement Directorate’s move was based on its investigation.