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VVIP chopper case: Ratul Puri’s anticipatory bail petition rejected
Special judge Arvind Kumar said he did not find it to be a fit case for grant of anticipatory bail because the investigation is at a crucial stage and the nature of the allegations against Ratul Puri is serious.
A Delhi court on Tuesday declined the anticipatory bail application moved by Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath. Puri is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal.
Special judge Arvind Kumar said he did not find it to be a fit case for grant of anticipatory bail because the investigation is at a crucial stage and the nature of the allegations against Puri is serious.
Meanwhile, in the Delhi high court, Puri withdrew his application for the extension of protection from arrest by a week.Appearing for Puri, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi withdrew the plea and said he would approach the trial court.
The trial court also dismissed another application by Puri seeking a copy of his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) related to the case.
On providing a copy of the statement, the counsel for ED submitted that it was a part of the case file and it wasn’t necessary to provide it to Puri, the court said.
Following the court’s order, Puri’s counsel Vijay Aggarwal said the legal team was exploring all options. “ My client’s name is being unnecessarily dragged {into the case} five years after the investigation began in the AgustaWestland {case}. This comes after his utmost cooperation with the ED, despite him having joined the investigation 25 times and having given thousands of documents, “ said Aggarwal.
Puri’s company Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd has categorically denied his involvement in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal.
The case revolves around allegations that bribes were paid to middlemen in return for the award of the Rs.3,600 crore deal to supply 12 AugustaWestland helicopters to Italian defence manufacturer Finmeccanica (now known as the Leonardo group) by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2010.The deal, which envisaged replacing ageing Mi-8 choppers to ferry VVIPs such as the President, vice-president, Prime Minister and the other dignitaries, was cancelled in 2014 after the allegations surfaced.
