Loan fraud: Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal moves Bombay HC against ‘illegal arrest’ in ED case

Goyal’s plea was mentioned before a division bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Gauri V Godse, which will hear it on September 20. Goyal claimed that the arrest violated his fundamental right to personal liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

On Thursday the special court sent Goyal (74) to Arthur Road Jail for two weeks in judicial custody, after the ED did not seek his further custody. He was arrested on September 1 by the ED and he had since been in the custody of the agency for interrogation.

The ED had arrested Goyal claiming that he had siphoned off the bank loan and diverted company funds by appointing his family members in the company and paying salaries of a company floated by his daughter. Goyal denies these claims, stating that the money was utilised towards the company.

The ED’s case was filed on the basis of an FIR filed by the CBI in May on a complaint given by Canara Bank in November 2022, alleging that the loan given for the operational work of the airline was used for personal expenses.

The bank’s complaint is based on a forensic audit by an external audit company for the 2011-2019 period. While the Canara Bank loan was declared a non-performing asset in 2019, the ED claims that Rs 538 crore was nothing but proceeds of crime that was diverted and siphoned off. The ED claims this was done on the pretext of paying professional and consultancy expenses to various entities.