The Enforcement Directorate in a city court on Thursday opposed the bail plea of lawyer Gautam Khaitan, an accused in the Rs. 3,700-crore VVIP chopper deal case, accusing him of being involved in routing of kickbacks to India.
Mr. Khaitan was the first person to be arrested in the alleged bribery case. While the Central Bureau of Investigation booked him and the other accused in March, 2013, the ED registered a separate case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act this July.
Alleging that Mr. Khaitan was actively involved in the suspected illegal transactions and himself a beneficiary, the agency counsels opposed his bail application.
Mr. Khaitan’s counsels said he was not involved in any such financial transaction; he was a “soft target”; and that the others named in the case were not being touched by the ED.
Having heard the arguments from both sides, the court reserved its order on the bail plea for October 13, extending Mr. Khaitan’s judicial custody till October 21.
