Gautam Khaitan granted bail.A Special CBI Court today granted grant bail to lawyer Gautam Khaitan in a case under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015..The order was pronounced by Judge Arvind Kumar. .The Court has directed Khaitan to furnish two securities of Rs 25 lakh each and personal bond of the same amount. The Court has also directed Khaitan to join the investigation as and when required and also provide details with respect to his mobile number and email address to the Investigating Officer..Additionally, Khaitan has been directed not to leave the country without the Court’s permission, nor tamper with any evidence or contact the witnesses..Rejecting the prosecution’s apprehension that Khaitan might abscond, the Court observed,.“..accused in 54 years of age and has roots in the society. He has a law firm based in India besides having his properties in India. Family members of the accused are based in India. Further, it is noted that the accused has been visiting outside India with the permission of the Court on different occasions and had travelled more than 120 times abroad and has complied with the conditions imposed by this court in the case titled “CBI vs SP Tyagi” and has been regularly attending the Court. Therefore, the contention that the Enforcement Directorate that the accused may abscond does not appear to have much substance.“.The Court also distinguished the current order of bail from an earlier order when Khaitan’s bail was rejected by the Court..“As regards the earlier application for bail, dismissed by this Court, it is worthwhile recording that the same was dismissed at the stage of investigation and since then circumstances has changed and chargesheet has also been filed by the Enforcement Directorate.”.Gautam Khaitan, who is also one of the accused in the AgustaWestland chopper case, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 26 under the Black Money Act pursuant to a fresh ECIR. He is accused of having several undisclosed foreign bank accounts and beneficial interest in several undisclosed foreign entities, gained in the name of legal consultancy. As per the prosecution, Khaitan had deposited nearly Rs. 6,000 crore in offshore accounts..The Enforcement Directorate filed a chargesheet against Khaitan in the matter on March 25. Alleging violation of provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the charge sheet also named Khaitan’s wife, Ritu Khaitan and two other companies, Ismax and Windfor, as accused..On January 26, a Magistrate had sent Khaitan to two days’ ED custody. On January 28, Khaitan was remanded to five days’ custody with ED by the CBI Court. His custody was further extended by six days on February 2..He was sent to judicial custody on February 8..Khaitan had sought his bail in the case on the ground that there was no longer any need for him to be in custody as the investigation in the case was already over with the filing of the chargesheet..Khaitan was represented by Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra and Advocate PK Dubey..ED was represented by SPP DP Singh..Khaitan will appear next before the Court on May 4 pursuant to the summons issued to him after the Enforcement Directorate filed the chargesheet..Read the Order:.Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
