New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday extended the interim bail granted to Dubai-based businessman Rajiv Saxena till February 25 in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case. Special Judge Arvind Kumar also reserved order on his regular bail plea. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not opposed Saxena’s bail plea on medical grounds as he was cooperating in the VVIP chopper deal probe. Saxena told the court that he was suffering from radiating back pain, numbness and heaviness in legs, along with other ailments.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) security agencies had picked Saxena from his Dubai residence on January 30 and extradited him to India later that night, along with corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar. According to the ED, in connivance with lawyer Gautam Khaitan, Saxena provided a corporate structure across the globe to launder money for payment to various political leaders, bureaucrats and Indian Air Force officials to influence the contract for supplying 12 VVIP helicopters in favour of AgustaWestland. Saxena’s name was mentioned in a chargesheet filed against his wife, Shivani, who has been out on bail after being arrested by the ED earlier.
