Chopper case: Court to hear Sushen's bail on April 15

A Delhi court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar said he would hear further arguments on the bail plea on April 15.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opposed the bail plea of Sushen Mohan Gupta. He was arrested on March 26, a day after the court allowed Rajiv Saxena, a Dubai-based businessman and an alleged middleman in the deal, to turn approver.

The court also listed the plea of British national Christian Michel, a key middleman accused in the case, seeking a "free and fair" trial, for further hearing on April 12. He has alleged that the fresh supplementary chargesheet filed in the case was accessed by some media outlets.

The ED has filed the reply on his plea and raised question on the maintainability of his application.

Michel was extradited to India on December 4, 2018, from the United Arab Emirates.

According to the ED, Saxena, in connivance with lawyer Gautam Khaitan, developed the global corporate structure that laundered money for payment to politicians, bureaucrats and Indian Air Force (IAF) officials to influence the contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers in favour of AgustaWestland, the Rome-based helicopter design and manufacturing company.

--IANS

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