ED arrests Gautam Khaitan in money laundering case, gets his 2-day remand

New Delhi [India), Jan 26 (ANI): A Delhi court here on Saturday remanded lawyer Gautam Khaitan in two-day custody for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has arrested him for his alleged involvement in a case of possessing black money and money laundering.
The Central government agency had sought Khaitan’s seven-day custody to unravel the conspiracy regarding his alleged unidentified assets of more than Rs 500 crore. It is worth mentioning that Khaitan is also an accused in multi-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal kickback case.          
“The case filed against my client is mala-fide. We have a testament to show that a forgery has been committed by the Income Tax Department,” claimed Khaitan’s counsel Pramod Kumar Dubey after the ED made the arrest.
A Patiala House Court here on Saturday, which allowed the ED to get 2-day custody of Khaitan, however, permitted Khaitan to have access to his counsel and medicines. He will now be produced in the court on January 28.
“We have a proof to show that a forgery has been committed by the Income Tax Department. The case filed against him is mala-fide. ED is taking the case against Khaitan because it wants to please someone,” claimed Khaitan’s lawyer while talking to ANI.
Claiming that investigative agencies have no solid evidence against Khaitan, Pramod said: “So far, Khaitan has been arrested twice once by the Enforcement Directorate and later by the CBI. These probe agencies have not found any evidence against Khaitan. Till today, my client is confused as he is unaware of the offence, for which he was being investigated and arrested twice.”
“We just came to know that he was arrested for the violence of the Black Money Act. There was no need to detain him as Khaitan had replied to the show-cause notices. The agencies are deliberately taking the case against him because they want to please someone,” he added.
Last week, the Income Tax Department sleuths raided offices and various other properties in Delhi-NCR belonging to him. I-T Dept claims to have gathered evidence against Khaitan for allegedly receiving kickbacks in other defence deals too, besides AgustaWestland during the UPA tenure.
On the recommendation of the I-T Department, ED had registered a case against him under the Black Money Act. (ANI)