Kamal Nath’s nephew alleges ‘vendetta’ in ED’s chopper probe
NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri, through senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, on Monday argued that the sole basis of him being put under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner was the statement of accused-turned-approver Rajiv Saxena, who is now a “spurious” witness from being an approver in the AgustaWestland chopper-deal scam case.
Seeking pre-arrest bail for his client before special CBI judge Arvind Kumar, Singhvi submitted that the ED case against Puri stood on a “bogus footing” as the agency made Saxena an approver first, but has now sought its cancellation. ED, on the other hand, opposed the plea and is likely to make detailed arguments on Tuesday. Puri, meanwhile, managed a breather from arrest for one more day.
“There are 25 appearances before ED. And then they say ‘we will teach you a lesson’. If this is not vendetta, anger then what?” Singhvi said.ED said its investigation has shown “culpability of Puri and his foreign entities” that allegedly received proceeds of crime directly from Interstellar Technologies, an accused.
