CBI does the needful for Hindujas’ court appearance

The court had issued summonses to S.P. Hinduja, G.P. Hinduja and P.P. Hinduja asking them to appear before it on January 19 after taking cognisance of the CBI chargesheet filed on October 9 last year. The chargesheet alleged that they had received 81 million Swedish kroners from AB Bofors which bagged the Rs 1437-crore gun contract in 1986.

Hindujas had sought cancellation of the look out notices terming the same as “motivated and intended to harass and humiliate them”.

They had also sought permission to appear before the court on separate dates on the ground that their business, spread over four continents and employing over 25,000 people, might suffer if all of them were held up in court on a single date.

Following CBI’s reply to their plea, the judge said “let them appear before the court on January 19 and the remaining part of their prayers would heard on that day”.

CBI counsel N. Natarajan informed Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke, who was hearing separate applications by the Hinduja brothers seeking cancellation of look out notices against them issued to all airports in India by the agency, that the brothers would not be detained at the airports if they came to answer the summonses issued to them by the court.

In separate applications before Judge Bharihoke, who had issued summonses to them after taking cognisance of the chargesheet, the brothers said they were willing to appear before the court but the look out notice was an impediment.

The court said since the CBI has already issued instructions to immigration authorities not to detain the Hindujas, their other prayers would be heard on January 19 “on their appearance”.

In another prayer, the brothers sought different dates for the three of them to appear before the court as they did not want to appear together on a single day. The brothers in their applications had also sought exemption from personal appearance before the court.

When the counsel for the three brothers, Rajendra Singh and Arvind Nigam, pressed for these two reliefs, Bharihoke said “let them appear first and remaining part of their prayers will be heard on that day”.

The Hinduja brothers said the summonses were yet to be served on them but as law abiding persons they wanted to appear before the court on their own volition.

The agency said the look out notices were issued in view of their failure to join the investigation and their “insistence that the course of investigation should proceed in a particular manner as desired by them”.

The Hindujas had in their applications sought permission to travel out of India after their appearance in the case. However, the CBI said this request could be made before the court “only after they submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the court”.