SC adjourns ED plea against Saxena’s foreign visit

New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned till August an Enforcement Directorate plea opposing accused-turned-approver Rajeev Saxena's foreign visit and asked AIIMS to submit a report to verify if he needs treatment outside the country.

The order by Justices Ashok Bhushan and Navin Sinha came after Saxena's counsel and senior advocate Geeta Luthra informed the court that her client was undergoing medical treatment in a hospital in Mumbai.

She assured the court that Saxena will appear before the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at the earliest.

The bench was hearing an ED plea challenging a June 10 Delhi High Court order allowing Saxena to travel abroad for treatment of blood cancer and other associated ailments.

The ED argued that Saxena may not return to India as he has no roots in the country.

Saxena was the director of two Dubai-based firms - UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings.

He was one of the accused named in the chargesheet filed by the ED in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland scam. The High Court had noted he was granted bail on medical grounds before being pardoned and made an approver in the case.

The High Court had also noted that two other accused - Gautam Khaitan and Ritu Khaitan - were allowed to travel abroad.

Saxena was extradited from Dubai and then arrested on January 30. The ED alleged that he played an important role in laundering money paid as kickbacks in the scam.

According to a supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED, fictitious invoices were generated to project the bribe money as legitimate. The kickbacks were allegedly paid to companies controlled by lawyer Gautam Khaitan in the garb of fictitious engineering contracts.