Court reserves order for February 19 on Gautam Khaitan’s bail plea

New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS) A Delhi court on Friday reserved for February 19 its order on lawyer Gautam Khaitan's bail plea, who was sent to judicial custody in a case of laundering of black money.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar heard both the parties.

Enforcement Directorate's (ED) counsel and Special Public Prosecutor D.P. Singh said that Khaitan's bail plea must be rejected as he is a habitual offender and a master launderer.

He also said that there are chances that he can influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.

However, Khaitan's lawyer Siddharth Luthra said that his client will follow all terms and conditions imposed by the court.

The defence counsel argued that there was no longer any need to keep Khaitan in custody and, hence, he should be released on bail.

Currently in judicial custody, Khaitan was arrested on January 25, a week after the Income Tax Department raided his offices and various other properties in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

The ED said that Khaitan was "controlling" the modus operandi and was responsible for routing money, misusing his connections and clients, including the ones inherited from his father, to launder money through a variety of accounts in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia, Switzerland, the UK and India.

Agency officials said the accounts included those belonging to his undisclosed shell companies outside India.

Khaitan was arrested in September 2014 for his alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

He got bail in January 2015 and was again arrested along with Sanjeev Tyagi, another accused in the case, on December 9, 2016, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He later secured bail.

The CBI charge sheet had described Khaitan as the brain behind the AgustaWestland deal.