AgustaWestland case: Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri moves court, seeks anticipatory bail after being summoned by ED

Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, on Saturday moved a Delhi court and applied for an anticipatory bail in connection with the alleged scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland amounting to Rs 3,600 crore. This came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Puri earlier in the day for questioning in connection with the alleged scam

According to law enforcement officials, Puri had come to the office and was asked to wait. He, however, did not wait and left without a delay.

In April, he had appeared before the agency for questioning. Talking to the media outside the ED office, he claimed to have no connection with the defence deals. "I have no connection with defence (deals) and no business dealings with my relatives, I run an independent business. I am cooperating with the investigation and will continue to cooperate," he had said.

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The deal with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for purchase of 12 VVIP choppers was scrapped by India on January 1, 2014, over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore for securing the deal.

On April 10, the Income Tax Department had unearthed unaccounted cash worth Rs 30 crore from the premises of Kamal Nath's Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Praveen Kakkar, Puri and associated companies. Puri is the chairman of the board of directors of Hindustan Power projects. His name had reportedly emerged during the questioning of Rajiv Saxena, an accused-turned-approver in the case

Republic had accessed the fresh charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate on May 22, 2019, which has exposed the Congress link in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scandal. In the charge sheet, middleman Sushen Mohan Gupta has named Madhya Pradesh CM and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri, whose house was raided by the Income Tax (I-T) department team earlier in April 7 in Delhi in connection with an alleged illegal transaction case.

As per the charge sheet, middleman in the AgustaWestland case Sushen Mohan Gupta told the ED officials that Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri's RPuriTechnostone was paid around 14000 Euros by him. Gupta confessed about the Congress links in the case when he was confronted by the ED with the data of flash drive /pen drive/ diary given to the investigative agency by accused Rajiv Saxena, who later turned an approver. 

READ | Clincher Accessed: Kamal Nath's Nephew Ratul Puri Named In ED's AgustaWestland Chopper Scam Chargesheet, Middleman Alleges Kickbacks

(With ANI inputs)