Delhi HC reserves order on plea seeking cancellation of Ratul Puri's bail in AgustaWestland case

The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its order on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking cancellation of bail granted to businessman Ratul Puri in connection with AgustaWestland money laundering case.

The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its order on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking cancellation of bail granted to businessman Ratul Puri in connection with AgustaWestland money laundering case. Advocate Amit Mahajan, appearing for ED, told the High Court that if Puri remains out on bail, he may tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.

The economic offences watchdog also told the court that the lower court has not appreciated all the documents put on record while granting bail to the businessman. Appearing on behalf of Puri, senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, and Vijay Aggarwal, contended that the chargesheet has been filed in the case and opposed ED's plea seeking cancellation of bail.

Puri's counsel also told the court that a number of accused in the matter are abroad and have not appeared before the court or the ED until now. A special court in Delhi had on December 2 granted regular bail to Puri in the matter on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh and two sureties of like amount.

The trial court, while granting bail to Puri, had directed him to not tamper with evidence or contact and influence any witness. He was asked to join the investigation as and when called by the Investigating Officer (IO). Puri is under the scanner for allegedly receiving kickbacks in the 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scam. The agency had recently filed a supplementary prosecution complaint against Puri and one Jaspreet Ahuja in the case.

In 2014, India had scrapped a contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary, AgustaWestland, for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force, over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of kickbacks worth Rs 423 crore being paid to secure the deal. Puri, who is the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, was earlier today granted bail by a Delhi court in connection with the alleged Moser Baer bank fraud case. (ANI)

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