A special CBI court on Tuesday sought a reply from the Enforcement Directorate over the second bail plea filed by Gautam Khaitan, a Lawyer-cum-businessman, against a money laundering case. The matter is postponed to be heard on April 9 after the agency will file a response to the plea said a Special CBI judge, Arvind Kumar on Tuesday, April 2.
The accusations are Gautam’s possession of black money that is apparently not related to the AgustaWestland Chopper case. ED has knowledge of Khaitan holding unidentified assets of worth ₹500 crores.
ED also alleged Gautam of having knowledge about the other involvements in the AgustaWestland case
The court was hearing the second bail plea filed by Gautam Khaitan who is currently in judicial custody.
The agency on March 25 filed a 1500-page charge sheet against Khaitan in connection with the money laundering case. The charge sheet was filed before Special Judge Arvind Kumar under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The bail plea filed by Gautam Khaitan stated, “The ED has averred in the complaint that further investigation is going on (though there is no provision in law to conduct further investigation in a complaint case), and LR will be issued to foreign countries. In these circumstances, there is no likelihood of the conclusion of a trial in the near future.”
The plea further stated that the documents presented by the ED have already been filed before the court as a result of which there are no ways in which the pieces of evidence could have tampered.
The allegations imposed on Gautam Khaitan include his involvement in holding illegal foreign bank accounts and a total sum of ₹6000 crores, which was not disclosed at the time of his Income Tax Return.
Advocate for the Lawyer-cum-businessman is Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey while a Special Public Prosecutor(SPP) DP Singh is representing the Enforcement Directorate.