Chopper deal: Khaitan's judicial custody extended till Nov 3

A court here Tuesday extended till Nov 3 the judicial custody of businessman Gautam Khaitan, arrested in a money laundering case related to the AgustaWestland chopper deal.

Special judge V.K. Gupta sent Khaitan to 14 days' judicial custody after he was produced in court on expiry of his earlier remand.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) prosecutor Vikas Garg sought extension of judicial custody of Khaitan submitting that the investigation in the case is still in progress.

The court Monday dismissed the bail plea of Khaitan as the probe regarding other accused persons in the case was still going on.

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 VVIP helicopters from British firm AgustaWestland came under scrutiny after Italian authorities alleged that the company paid a bribe to clinch the deal with India, inked in February 2010.

India Jan 1 terminated the Rs.3,600 crore (about $770 million) deal with AgustaWestland for the purchase of the choppers following allegations of kickbacks having been paid to fix the deal.

India had paid around 45 percent of the total contract value for the choppers meant to ferry the president, the prime minister and other VIPs.

The ED had 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, Chri stian 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.