Ratul Puri, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, moved a Delhi court on Friday seeking cancellation of a non-bailable warrant against him in the AgustaWestland chopper scam case.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate and put up the matter for Saturday.
Mr. Puri told the court that he wished to join the probe and, hence, the non-bailable warrant should be cancelled.
The court had earlier issued the warrant against him while noting the ED’s submissions that the businessman might try to tamper with evidence and influence the witnesses “as he already did earlier“.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary, AgustaWestland. The deal was scrapped by the NDA government in 2014 over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks for securing the deal.
According to the ED, the proceeds of the crime have been deposited in the accounts of different companies owned by Mr. Puri and he is a key link to unearth the modus operandi adopted by the other accused and to determine last-mile connectivity of the proceeds.
