VVIP Chopper deal case: Court dismisses defence agent's bail plea

Pic courtesy/Twitter/ANI

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the bail plea of Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent arrested in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper 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 it.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate 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.

Recently, the Delhi court issued summons to a partner and two firms of British national Christian Michel, the middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case. After taking cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet, Special Judge Arvind Kumar asked Michel's partner David Syms and authorised representative of his two firms Global Services FZE, UAE, and Global Trade and Commerce Ltd, to appear before it on May 9.

The court also listed Michel's plea seeking a "free and fair" trial as the fresh supplementary chargesheet filed in the case was accessed by some media outlets for further hearing on April 12. The ED on Thursday filed the fresh supplementary chargesheet in the case. It said the bribe from AgustaWestland was routed through Global Services and Global Trading. Michel had used the companies as a conduit for receiving money. He was extradited to India on December 4, 2018, from the United Arab Emirates.

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