A Delhi court on Monday reserved order on the bail application of Sushen Mohan Gupta in a money laundering case connected with the ₹3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal case.
Order on April 20
Special Judge Arvind Kumar reserved the order for April 20 on the conclusion of arguments by counsel for the accused and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
ADVERTISEMENT
The ED opposed the bail application through its counsel D.P. Singh and N.K. Matta submitting that there were possibilities of the accused fleeing the country like other accused businessmen, including Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, who went abroad to escape prosecution.
Countering the argument of having deep roots in society by counsel for the accused, the Directorate’s lawyer said Mr. Mallya, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Sandesara brothers (Sterling Biotech Ltd promoters) were more deeply anchored in society, yet they fled the country.
Seeking bail on the ground that the agency has already completed investigation and filed a chargesheet in the case, counsel for the accused rejected the Directorate’s argument of flight risk, submitting that he joined the probe as and when summoned.
ADVERTISEMENT
Held Under PMLA
Gupta was arrested by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED officials said Gupta’s role in the case came to light on the basis of disclosures made by Rajiv Saxena, who has turned approver in the case after he was deported from the UAE and arrested by the agency here.