Court dismisses alleged defence agent’s bail plea

NEW DELHI: A Delhi Court Saturday dismissed the bail plea of Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent arrested in the Agustawestland VVIP choppers scam case.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar refused to grant the relief to Gupta whose judicial custody expires on Saturday and an order is yet to be passed on his custody. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The probe agency had 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.

The ED had opposed Gupta’s bail plea saying there was a likelihood of him fleeing the country like 36 businessmen, including Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, who had criminal cases against them.

Gupta has sought the relief on the ground that the agency has already completed the investigation and filed a charge sheet in the case.

In his bail application, the accused had told the court that ED’S contention of the flight risk can be rejected considering his past activities, where he joined the investigation as and when summoned.

ED’S special public prosecutors D P Singh and N K Matta had earlier countered Gupta’s claim that he had deep roots in society, saying, “Mallya, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Sandesara brothers (Sterling Biotech Ltd promoters) had deeper roots in society yet they left the country. There are such 36 businessmen who fled from the country in the last few years.”