NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Rajeev Saxena, an accused-turned-approver in the money laundering case in the Agusta Westland chopper scam, who would stand surety for him and also queried on the amount he would deposit to ensure his return to India after addressing his medical issues.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai told Saxena's counsel to inform it by Wednesday if his sister and sister-in-law are willing to stand surety by depositing Rs five crore as guarantee for his return to face trial.
The Enforcement Directorate objected to Saxena's plea stating he may not return to India as he has no roots in the country. The court queried on the powers of the agency to get him back into the country.
ED's counsel contended that no country will come on record stating it does not have sufficient powers to get back the accused. The court replied if ED can suggest other conditions, then the same can be imposed on Saxena.
The bench has posted the matter for Wednesday.
On June 10, the Delhi High Court had allowed Saxena to travel abroad for the treatment of blood cancer and other associated ailments. Saxena was the director of two Dubai-based firms - UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings.
He was also 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 - in the case were also 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 for the 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.