AgustaWestland case: Court seeks ED's response on Ratul Puri's bail plea, allows counsel to meet him in Tihar

A special court on Saturday issued a notice to Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a petition filed by businessman Ratul Puri seeking bail in AgustaWestland money laundering case and allowed Puri's counsel to meet him in jail to discuss legal issues.

Puri, who is the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, moved a bail plea earlier today, following which Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar sought response from the probe agency and slated the matter for hearing on November 22.

Puri is currently lodged in Tihar jail. He was arrested by the ED on September 3 for his alleged involvement in receiving kickbacks in the deal through his companies.

Court also permitted Puri's counsel Vijay Aggarwal to meet him in Tihar on November 19 to discuss legal issues.

Besides Advocate Aggarwal, senior counsel Siddarth Luthra and Vikas Pahwa also appeared for Ratul Puri in the court today.

Recently the same Court had taken cognizance of a sixth charge sheet filed by the ED in the case. The ED, in its charge sheet submitted that AgustaWestland gave 17 million Euros as kickbacks which reached the accused through two channels -- Interseller and the firms owned by Christian Michel, a middleman in the chopper deal.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland.

The deal was scrapped by the NDA government in 2014 over the alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks for securing the deal.