Team Herald
PANJIM: The prosecution on Friday informed the High Court of Bombay at Goa that Enforcement Directorate has summoned alleged hawala operator Raichand Soni, which is the reason he has been making desperate attempts to flee to Dubai.
“He wants to avoid the ED’s call on September 7 (Monday),” Public Prosecutor S R Rivonkar said challenging Soni’s plea to travel to Dubai.
Sources in the ED told Herald that they have summoned him to record his statement regarding his confession about delivering money to former Louis Berger official Sanjay Jindal in 2010.
Soni had told the judicial magistrate that he paid Jindal the money on a request from his friend and another witness in the case, Prasanna Shah, MD of Shah Consultancy.
Arguing on his plea before the single bench of Justice K L Wadhane, the prosecution charged Soni with being an expert in hawala operations.
“Hawala is the root cause of all illegalities. He said that he delivered the money as an ordinary course of his business. Does he have the right to do illegal business?” Rivonkar asked.
The defence further maintained that Soni’s presence was required in Dubai for parents’ teachers’ meeting in his son’s college. Sardessai said a request for video-conferencing was declined by the university that insisted on the parents’ physical presence.
Rivonkar challenged the authenticity of the ‘computer generated papers’ while arguing video-conferencing is accepted everywhere including courts. The high court, on hearing both arguments, has reserved the order.
BOX
ED summons Jindal today
While Raichand Soni has been summoned on Monday, ED quizzed Shah Consultancy MD Satyakam Mohanty on Friday. Mohanty, former vice president of LB had been earlier arrested by Crime Branch in connection with the bribery case and subsequently bailed out by the special court.
Former LB employee Sanjay Jindal has been called on Saturday as ED is prepared with a set of questions for him in connection with the FIR registered on the money laundering aspect in the bribery case. Soni’s assistant and salesman in Midland Connection Mukesh Bharti has been asked to appear on Wednesday.
Operating Manager of the NJS Consultants Company Ltd, Uday Kerkar, has been summoned on Thursday, Louis Berger’s office manager Maladi Shivarama Prasad on Friday and Prasanna Shah, MD of Shah Consultancy on September 14. Sources said Shah will be quizzed over Soni’s statement that he gave a huge amount of Rs 1.75 crore to Jindal on his request.
