Court reserves order on Gautam Khaitan's bail plea

New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) A Delhi court on Thursday reserved its order on the bail plea of lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who was arrested in a case of money laundering.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar said he will deliver his order on March 12.

The Enforcement Directorate has opposed Khaitan's bail plea.

Currently in judicial custody, Khaitan was arrested on January 25, a week after the Income Tax Department raided his offices and various other properties in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

The ED said that Khaitan was "controlling" the modus operandi and was responsible for routing money, misusing his connections and clients, including the ones inherited from his father, to launder money through a variety of accounts in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia, Switzerland, the UK and India.

ED officials said the accounts included those belonging to his undisclosed shell companies outside India.

Khaitan was arrested in September 2014 for his alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

He got bail in January 2015 and was again arrested along with Sanjeev Tyagi, another accused in the case, on December 9, 2016, by the Central Bureau of Investigation. He later secured bail.

The CBI chargesheet had described Khaitan as the brain behind the AgustaWestland deal.