AgustaWestland case: SC to hear plea against permission granted to Rajeev Saxena to travel abroad
The Enforcement Directorate had filed a plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s decision to allow Saxena to travel outside India.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea by the Enforcement Directorate challenging the permission granted to businessman Rajeev Saxena to travel abroad on medical grounds, PTI reported. Saxena, who was allegedly a middleman in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, had turned an approver in a money laundering case related to it.
The agency mentioned the matter before a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai. The bench will hear the matter on Tuesday.
The Delhi High Court had allowed Saxena to travel outside India to receive treatment for blood cancer and other ailments. Justice Anu Malhotra had vacated the High Court’s June 4 interim order that had stayed the trial court’s June 1 decision allowing him to travel abroad.
The High Court had noted that Saxena had been granted bail on medical grounds before being pardoned and made an approver in the case. The judge also noted that two other accused in the case, Gautam Khaitan and Ritu Khaitan, had also been allowed to travel abroad.
Saxena was arrested after being extradited to India from Dubai on January 30. He allegedly played a key role in laundering the money used to pay kickbacks. According to a supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate, the bribe money was “layered” and projected as “untainted money” with the help of “fictitious invoices”. The kickbacks were reportedly paid to companies controlled by lawyer Gautam Khaitan using fictitious engineering contracts.