Chopper deal: HC reserves order on Khaitan's bail plea

The Delhi High Court Wednesday reserved its order on the bail plea of businessman Gautam Khaitan, arrested in a money laundering case related to the AgustaWestland chopper deal.

Justice V.P. Vaish reserved the order after both the parties in the case, Khaitan and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), concluded their arguments.

Filing the bail plea, Khaitan said he has been fully cooperating with the investigation and his arrest by the ED is based purely on speculation, conjecture and surmises.

The ED, however, has opposed the bail plea saying there was a likelihood of Khaitan tampering with evidence and hampering the ongoing probe which is at a crucial stage.

A court here had Oct 20 dismissed Khaitan's bail plea, saying the probe regarding other accused in the case was still going on.

He is in judicial custody now.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Khaitan, told the court that the likelihood of Khaitan's fleeing from justice and his tampering with evidence is missing in this case as "his entire family comprising his aged parents, wife and two children resides in New Delhi".

"The petitioner (Khaitan) is suffering from severe hypertension, blood pressure, diabetes and is on regular medication for which he is being given strong antibiotics. Therefore, he requires complete medical supervision," the plea said.

Khaitan, who was on the board of the Chandigarh-based company Aeromatrix, was arrested a day after the agency conducted a search of his premises Sep 22.

The supply of 12 VIP helicopters from AgustaWestland came under scrutiny after Italian authorities alleged that the company paid a bribe to clinch the deal with India, inked in Feb 2010.

India Jan 1, 2014, terminated the Rs.3,600 crore (about $770 million) deal with AgustaWestland for the purchase of the choppers meant to ferry the president, the prime minister and other VIPs, following these allegations.

The ED registered a case in this deal in July 2013 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and booked former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, foreign nationals Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschke, companies like AgustaWestland, its parent company Italy-based Finmeccanica, Chandigarh-based IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix as well as two companies based in Mauritius and Tunisia, a few other firms and unidentified people in its criminal complaint.

The ED named 21 entities in the case. The Central Bureau of Investigation lodged a separate case in March 2013 against Tyagi and others in connection with the kickback allegations.