Delhi HC Dismisses Anticipatory Bail Plea Of Ratul Puri In AgustaWestland Case

The Delhi High Court, today, dismissed anticipatory bail plea of businessman Ratul Puri, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money-laundering case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam

New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri (C) leaves Enforcement Directorate office after being arrested in connection with a Rs 354 crore bank loan fraud case, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Aug 20, 2019. Puri was placed under arrest under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late Monday night. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma) (PTI8_20_2019_000120B)

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed anticipatory bail plea of businessman Ratul Puri, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money-laundering case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam. The order was passed by Justice Sunil Gaur, who heard the arguments of the counsels for Enforcement Directorate and Puri earlier in the day. While senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Puri argued that he was cooperating in the investigation, Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, representing ED contended that Puri was evasive in his replies to the agency during investigations and his answers were ex-facie misleading. Singhvi contended that legal malice and vendetta was writ large in the ED’s conduct, Lekhi argued that Puri’s evasiveness of reply is a ground to seek his custodial interrogation. 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. ED arrested Puri this morning in another bank loan fraud case. The CBI has also booked Puri, who formerly served as executive director of Moser Baer, and others in connection with a Rs-354 crore bank fraud case filed by Central Bank of India, officials said on Sunday.  Besides Ratul and the company, his father and Managing Director Deepak Puri, Directors Nita Puri (Ratul's mother and Kamal Nath's sister), Sanjay Jain and Vineet Sharma have also been booked by the agency for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption. (With inputs from PTI)