Chopper scam: Ratul Puri moves Delhi High Court for copy of statement recorded by ED

Source: indiatoday.in

Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, on Thursday approached the Delhi High Court seeking a copy of his statements recorded by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

He is an accused in a money laundering case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam.

Puri challenged a trial court’s August 6 order by which his application for supply of copy of his statements under section 50(2) of PMLA was dismissed.

The trial court had also dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in the case, noting that the investigation is at a crucial stage.

Puri, a businessman represented through advocate Vijay Aggarwal, claimed that the application was dismissed in gross violation of his fundamental rights as well as rights of natural justice.

“The special judge dismissed the application for supply of copy of the statement under section 50(2) of the PMLA without even considering the grounds raised by the petitioner, despite the fact liberty was granted by this court to urge the said grounds,” the plea said.

It alleged that there was no basis for providing any special treatment to the Enforcement Directorate regarding the statements recorded by it during the proceedings which are deemed to be judicial proceedings in terms of section 59(4) of the PMLA.

Puri, chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd, had on July 27 approached the trial court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, saying he feared arrest in the case.

Puri had appeared before the ED for questioning in the case pertaining to the now scrapped Rs 3,600 crore chopper deal with AgustaWestland.

The ED has been seeking the businessman’s custody to further investigate the matter. The agency’s counsel had earlier contended before the trial court that Puri was an influential person and might flee the country.

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

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