'Dead' witness in AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case to appear before court
The court has been hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri in connection with the AgustaWestland scam.
A key witness in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, KK Khosla, who was in possession of certain valuable documents in the case, will appear before the court on Thursday.
Interestingly, Khosla was declared "possibly dead" (or speculated to have been killed) by the Enforcement Directorate only 24 hours ago.
The court has been hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri in connection with the AgustaWestland scam.
KK Khosla, a 73-year-old chartered accountant, had been missing.
"Whenever we went to his house, he was not available. Maybe he is dead," the agency officials had told the special court hearing the case on Tuesday, according to a report in NDTV.
But, the agency, on Wednesday, said the witness has claimed he was alive and was ready to appear before the court.
KK Khosla, the agency said, is a crucial witness to the bribery and corruption link.
The defence counsel for Khosla's boss, Ratul Puri, is expected to begin his arguments on Thursday, an India Today report says.
The agency submitted that Puri is an influential man and if granted bail he might tamper evidence and influence witnesses in the case, while also alleging non-cooperation by him in the probe.
Puri was influencing the entire investigation and he is a "flight risk", it said.
"Flight risk" is used to determine whether or not a person being accused of a crime in a court case would consider running away or flying to another country in order to avoid being found guilty and going to prison.
At the outset, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Puri, argued that there was no material to show that his client was tampering with evidence and he has not figured in any charge sheet till date.
"There are 6,000 employees working in his companies. He has deep roots in society and to say that he is a flight risk is completely baseless. He has been cooperating from day one in the probe," Singhvi said, adding that the main accused Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent, is already out on bail.
Singhvi said that Puri has been questioned for almost 200 hours and yet the agency has not recovered any incriminating material against him.
The agency said however that in the middle of the ongoing investigation, Puri chose to leave the ED office only highlighting his non-cooperation and deliberate evasion.
"He did not come at the allotted time and everyday he made excuses that he has meeting with the high and mighty and sought adjournment on one ground or another. Out of 110 pages he has written about questions asked to him, he has mostly said that he will come back with answers. He has been least cooperative," Singh told the court.
ED has earlier alleged that the probe has thrown light on his culpability in the case and his concerned foreign entities, in which proceeds of crime (money generated through crime) were received directly from Interstellar Technologies (a co-accused in the case).
"Investigation has revealed that Ratul Puri has received funds from both the chains of money laundering involved," it had said.
According to the ED, while one chain involved middleman Christian Michel James, the other belonged to Rajeev Saxena, a co-accused who recently turned approver in the case.
"Investigation has further revealed that the applicant, using the guise of shell companies in the name of others, accumulated proceeds of crime, which have been parked and later laundered to reach the desired beneficiaries, including himself," it had said.
The agency had said that Puri was non-cooperative and evasive and if granted the relief, he may tamper with the investigation since he was an influential person.
Puri, Chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd, had on July 27 approached the court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, saying he feared arrest in the case.
The court had on Saturday granted the interim protection till Monday, which was extended to Tuesday.
Puri recently appeared before ED for questioning in the case pertaining to the now scrapped Rs 3,600 crore chopper deal with AgustaWestland.
(with inputs from agencies)