Hidujas to move HC as plea to leave India rejected

Hidujas to move HC as plea to leave India rejected
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, FEB 1: Europe-based Hinduja brothers today suffered a blow as a designated CBI court rejected their plea to leave India apprehending they might not come back if the trial in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case went against them.

"There is apprehension that the accused might not come back to India if the trial gets started and goes against them," Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke said while rejecting the application of Hinduja brothers seeking permission to go out of the country to attend to their family and business.

The court took into consideration the fact that the accused - London-based Srichand P Hinduja and Gopichand P Hinduja and Geneva-based Prakash P Hinduja - had changed their nationality after registration of the case in January 1990.

Bharihoke said a citizen of Switzerland could not be extradited without his written consent as provided in Article 7 of the Swiss Federal Law on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.

The Counsel for Hindujas A K Nigam said they are likely to file tomorrow an appeal in the Delhi High Court against the designated court's order.

Terming the court order as "unexpected", another counsel for Hindujas, Ujjwal A Rana said they had fully cooperated with CBI in the investigation of the case.

The Hinduja brothers were granted bail on January 19 but were asked by the court not to leave India without its prior permission.