Court rejects Hindujas’ plea to fly out of India

Court rejects Hindujas’ plea to fly out of India
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 1: The Hinduja brothers’ appeal to leave the country has been dismissed by a designated court. Lawyers for the three brothers were told by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke that their application had been dismissed.

‘‘I have refused permision,’’ the judge said to Hinduja’s lawyers. He observed that the brothers might not come back to face trial if they left the country.

London-based Srichand P. Hinduja and Gopichand P. Hinduja and Geneva-based Prakash P. Hinduja were not present in court today.

The court also said there is reasonable ground to believe the CBI’s contention that P.P. Hinduja, a Swiss national, could take refuge under Article 7 of the Swiss federal law on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal matters (IMAC), which provided that no Swiss national could be extradited without his written consent.

Earlier, CBI counsel N. Natrajan had told the court that there is ‘‘strong apprehension that if the accused are permitted to go abroad they might not come back.’’ The CBI had also said that the brothers had acquired citizenship only after this case had come up for scrutiny.

According to Hindujas’ counsel, they would appeal the decision in the Delhi high court. ‘‘We will be moving an appeal in the coming few days,’’ said counsel for the Hindujas’, Ujjwal Rana.

The Hinduja brothers, accused of receiving kickbacks in the Rs 1,437-crore Bofors gun deal, made their first appearance in an Indian court on January 19. The court has barred them from leaving India without its prior permission and granted them bail. The next hearing in the designated court has been fixed for March 19.