Agusta Westland Case: Court reserves order for August 6 on Ratul Puri's anticipatory bail plea

A Delhi court Friday reserved the order for August 6 on anticipatory bail plea of Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in connection with a money laundering case related to the VVIP chopper scam.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar also extended the interim protection from arrest to Puri till August 6.  Meanwhile, a man claiming to be a witness appeared before the court saying the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had recorded his statement forcefully and urged the court to intervene.

The court will take up this application tomorrow. Puri, chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd, had on July 27 approached the court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, saying he feared arrest in the case.

The interim protection from arrest to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri will continue till Friday as the hearing on his anticipatory bail in connection with a money laundering case related to the VVIP chopper scam remained inconclusive.

Special judge Arvind Kumar will resume hearing the arguments on Friday. During Thursday's arguments, advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for Puri, told the court that his client was ready to appear before the ED whenever it wanted and that there was no need for his custodial interrogation.

Puri, chairman of Hindustan Power projects Pvt Ltd, had on July 27 approached the court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, saying he feared arrest in the case.

The court had on Saturday granted the interim protection till Monday, which was extended time to time since then.

Puri recently appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the case pertaining to the now scrapped Rs 3,600 crore chopper deal with AgustaWestland.