Court dismisses bail plea of corporate lobbyist Talwar

A Delhi Court Thursday dismissed the interim bail application of corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar in a money laundering case related to receiving foreign funding illegally.

In a hearing held through video conferencing, Special Judge Chandra Shekhar dismissed the application moved on medical grounds in view of coronavirus, noting that Talwar was lodged in Tihar central jail here where all the facilities were available.

The court passed the order after ED's special public prosecutors Amit Mahajan and Nitesh Rana said that the jail authorities have not filed any report about Talwar's health condition which suggests he risks the infection.

In his application, Talwar's lawyer had claimed that he had diabetes and hypertension which made his condition critical in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the ED, Talwar was the founding member of NGO Advantage India that had received foreign contribution of Rs 90.72 crore from MBDA England, a leading European missile manufacturer, and Airbus France under CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funding between 2012-13 to 2015-16,.

"Investigation has revealed that the NGO booked ''bogus'' expenditure under various heads to show that foreign donation was utilised for various purposes," the agency had said.