Ashok Jain Not Cooperating: Ed

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today told a Delhi court that Bennett, Coleman and Company chairman Ashok Jain was not cooperating with the investigation in an alleged FERA violation case.

In a reply to an application by jain, seeking courts permission to leave hospital and go home, moved before additional sessions judge M A Khan, who is hearing his anticipatory bail plea, the ED said, At no point of time he (Jain) has cooperated with the investigating team.

He (Jain) has been always avoiding answering any question, and whenever questions are put to him, he wrote out the gist of his answers to the questions in most evasive manner, the ED reply said.

Jain is admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Aiims) on courts instruction to facilitate his interrogation under doctors supervision, considering the history of his heart ailment.

The reply said that Jain has not been interrogated thoroughly, and so far allowed himself to be questioned for a period of 10 hours in about nine days since his admission to the hospital on July 3.

The ED denied that Jain was put under any kind of mental stress or psycho pressure and physical discomfort which could have resulted in shooting up of his blood pressure as alleged by the petitioner.

It said that at an interval of every 45 minutes or an hour, the doctors came and examined Jain and told the investigating team not to press with further question, which resulted in discontinuation of interrogation.

K K Sud, counsel for Jain charged ED with humiliating Jain under the garb of interrogation and requested the court to set a time limit to complete his questioning.

Sud had submitted a medical report by a team of three Aiims doctors on Thurday stating that his health indicated nocturnal angina which suggested that his arteries have developed a blockage.

The report had recommended complete avoidance of any kind of physical and mental stress and suggested that any further interrogation of Jain should be under direct supervision of qualified cardiologist in a hospital where necessary cardiac care back up facilities were available.

The hearing was adjourned till July 28.