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The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday, 30 July, dismissed before a Delhi court the allegations of 'political vendetta' against Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, for being probed in connection with a money laundering case related to AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam.
Puri, an industrialist, is being probed for allegedly making nefarious payments, the ED told the court.
Advocate DP Singh, appearing for the ED, told the court:
The ED made the submission during the hearing of anticipatory bail application filed by Puri before special judge Arvind Kumar, who extended his interim protection from arrest till Wednesday after the arguments on the application remained inconclusive.
Puri was influencing the entire investigation and he is a "flight risk", it said.
"Flight risk" is used to determine whether or not a person being accused of a crime in a court case would consider running away or flying to another country in order to avoid being found guilty and going to prison.
At the outset, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Puri, argued that there was no material to show that his client was tampering with evidence and he has not figured in any charge sheet till date.
The main accused Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent, is already out on bail, Singhvi added.
Singhvi further said that Puri has been questioned for almost 200 hours and yet the agency has not recovered any incriminating material against him.
The agency, on its part, said that in the middle of the ongoing investigation, Puri chose to leave the ED office only highlighting his non-cooperation and deliberate evasion.
Singh told the court:
The ED had earlier alleged that the probe has thrown light on his culpability in the case and his concerned foreign entities, in which proceeds of crime (money generated through crime) were received directly from Interstellar Technologies (a co-accused in the case).
"Investigation has revealed that Ratul Puri has received funds from both the chains of money laundering involved," it had said.
"Investigation has further revealed that the applicant, using the guise of shell companies in the name of others, accumulated proceeds of crime, which have been parked and later laundered to reach the desired beneficiaries, including himself," it had said.
The agency had said that Puri was non-cooperative and evasive and if granted the relief, he may tamper with the investigation since he was an influential person.
Puri, Chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd, had on 27 July approached the court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, saying he feared arrest in the case.
The court had on Saturday granted the interim protection till Monday, which was extended to Tuesday.
Puri recently appeared before the ED for questioning in the case pertaining to the now scrapped multi-crore chopper deal with AgustaWestland.
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