CBI court adjourns hearing on ED's plea seeking dismissal of Gautam Khaitan's bail in AugustaWestland case

A special Delhi court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to cancel the bail of corporate lobbyist Gautam Khaitan, a prime accused in the AugustaWestland scam case.

Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar, who also heard a plea seeking permission by Gautam Khaitan to go abroad, adjourned the hearing slated the matter for January 31.

The matter was adjourned today as Khaitan was unavailable to appear before the court.

The economic offences watchdog moved an application for the cancellation of the bail granted to Khaitan on January 6 and asked the court not to allow him to travel abroad as "he may influence witnesses" in the case.

Khaitan had moved an application seeking permission to travel abroad on February 14 and 15.

The ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have filed charge-sheets against the accused, who was arrested in December 2016. He was later released on bail.

He was also arrested in the AgustaWestland case in September 2014 but was granted bail by a court in January 2015.

According to ED, Gautam Khaitan, who was a Director in KRBL Ltd, had played a crucial role to launder the proceeds of crime totalling approximately Rs 26 crore.

Khaitan is one of the accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. As per the prosecution, Khaitan had deposited nearly Rs 6,000 crore in offshore accounts.