Delhi High Court issues notice to CBI on arms dealer Nandas bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on bail applications of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, his son Sanjeev Nanda and others, in a case of manipulating evidence on alleged kickbacks received by him in defence deals.

New Delhi, Apr 10 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on bail applications of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, his son Sanjeev Nanda and others, in a case of manipulating evidence on alleged kickbacks received by him in defence deals.

Issuing notice to the CBI, Justice Rekha Sharma asked the CBI to file its reply by April 23.

Appearing on behalf of the Nandas, senior counsel Arun Jaitley submitted before the court that all offences allegedly committed by the accused were bailable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"Preparation of offence is different from attempting to commit the offence," he said.

Jaitley also submitted that the transcripts of taped telephonic conversation among the accused did not support the allegations.

On April 5, a Delhi court had rejected the bail plea of Suresh Nanda, Sanjeev Nanda and others.

Rejecting the plea, Additional Sessions Judge IK Kochar had said, "Investigations are at an initial stage and releasing reports at this point of time may hamper the probe."

Suresh and Sanjeev Nanda, who is an accused in the BMW hit-and-run case, chartered accountant Bipin Shah and Deputy Director of Income Tax Ashutosh Verma were arrested in Mumbai on March 8.

The arrests, made from a well-known hotel in Mumbai where the four people had assembled for negotiations. The arrests, came a day after the CBI had conducted raids on Suresh Nanda, and the premises of his associates.

They have been accused of manipulating their IT assessments to obscure any financial link to the kickbacks allegedly paid to them in the Barak Missile deal.

The four involved in the scam have been charged under section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy.

The External Affairs Ministry had earlier suspended Suresh Nanda's passport on the CBI's request.

Suresh Nanda, the son of the former Navy Chief, Admiral S.M. Nanda, is alleged to have received over 450 crore rupees in kickbacks.

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes and the then Naval Chief Admiral Susheel Kumar have also been accused for their role in the Rs 1,150 crore Barak missile deal.

Nanda is also an accused in a case involving the purchase of Armoured Recovery Vehicles.

ANI