Court denies permission to ex-Power Secy's wife to go abroad

Former Delhi Power Secretary R K Verma's wife, summoned as accused for allegedly not declaring money stashed in an undisclosed firm in the UK, has been denied permission to go abroad by a Delhi court which said she has not disclosed full facts regarding her visit.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Devendra Kumar Sharma dismissed Ritu Verma's application seeking permission to go to London where she is pursuing a diploma course for garden designing.
The judge said Ritu has not disclosed facts about her stay in the UK and also the period to the court.
While dismissing the plea, the court said the accused has also not disclosed it to the Income Tax Department that she is pursuing the course outside India while seeking adjournment.

"... No ground for permission to go abroad is made out. Accordingly, application is dismissed," the court said.
It also rejected the submission of Ritu's counsel that she was a retired teacher and pursuing a course at Inchbald School of Design in the UK for her livelihood.

"There is nothing on record to suggest as to how the diploma course is having any relation with the livelihood of the accused...
"No place of stay has been given in the application at UK except photocopy of certificate purportedly obtained from the institution or period of her stay at UK has been specified and blanket permission has been sought," the court said.

The plea was opposed by Income Tax Department's standing counsel, advocate Brijesh Garg, saying there was a likelihood that Ritu may flee from the jurisdiction of this court as even during the investigation she did not fully cooperate.
The counsel said the course was neither related to livelihood of the accused nor any loss of business is there. He said it was a kind of hobby classes and a pleasure course.