AgustaWestland case: HC reserves order on accused Gupta's plea to quash NBW

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a plea filed by businessman and AgustaWestland case accused Shravan Gupta who sought quashing of a non-bailable warrant in a money laundering case probed by the ED, officials said.

A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had issued an "open ended" NBW against him in August 2020.

Gupta is alleged to have left for the UK (London) in 2019 after the federal probe agency summoned him for questioning.

An Interpol Red Notice was issued against him in August 2023.

The ED filed a supplementary chargesheet in February 2022 naming Gupta as an accused in the VVIP chopper case.

It has attached assets worth Rs 21 crore in the probe as part of two money laundering investigations against Gupta, director of real estate company MGF Developments.

The second PMLA case against is over Rs 180 crore.

According to officials, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna on Wednesday heard Gupta's plea of quashing the NBW issued against him.

The judge rejected the request of Gupta's counsel for adjourning the case and reserved the matter for judgment, they claimed.

Gupta's legal team informed the court that their client is ready to join the investigation via a video conference link and they have also moved a fresh application seeking the court's permission for allowing the same, they said.

The court observed the counsel for the petitioners have been seeking repeated adjournments in the matter and such a conduct was not expected from them, the officials claimed. 

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, representing Gupta, argued in court that his client was unable to come to India "at this stage" owing to certain medical conditions and he was ready to join the investigation via video conferencing which is permissible in law.

He said the court reserved its verdict on the applications including the one for attending the probe virtually.

The ED has alleged that offshore entities "beneficially owned and controlled" by Gupta received "proceeds of crime" worth more than Rs 28.69 crore (Euro 1,912,000 and USD 3,457,180) in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP Choppers "scam".

In a statement issued in January, the ED had said it was "pertinent to mention that Shravan Gupta is also an accused in the ED case of AgustaWestland helicopter scandal and has fled the country."  Gupta was the managing director and executive vice chairman of Emaar MGF Land Limited between 2005-2016.

It is alleged by the ED that during this time, Gupta came into contact with another accused in the case Gautam Khaitan, who later introduced him to Guido Haschke (an alleged middleman and an accused in the same case).

Gupta, as per ED's case, created offshore corporate structures to "launder" proceeds of crime generated by Khaitan and Haschke as "kickbacks" from the VVIP choppers deal.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore paid by the firm for securing the deal.