Romesh Sharma "loses" chopper to Pushpak official

The CMM observed in his order: “The objection of Romesh Sharma is repelled. The circumstances in which the transactions took place do not prima facie appear above board”.

“The complainant has made available the documents showing the certificate of registration of the helicopter in his favour by the Civil Aviation Department,” said the CMM. He pointed out the inability of Sharma’s counsel to produce documents to support the plea that the helicopter had been transferred to his client’s name.

The magistrate laid down terms for the formal release of the helicopter. Keeping its present value into account and also its hire charges, the CMM directed Rao to execute a supardarinama of Rs 60 lakh besides a surety of Rs 30 lakh. He told Rao to arrange comprehensive insurance of the helicopter from any subsidiary of General Insurance Company and to submit the first installment of Rs 2.5 lakh — a sum which Rao has been directed to pay every month as fixed deposit — in advance.

The CMM also ordered the release of one of Sharma’s four-wheel drive vehicles (DL-1C-C-3501) on a supardari of the sum of Rs 20 lakh to an authorised representative of Romesh Sharma. The authority letter shall be executed before the jail superintendent who is expected to countersign the same. The vehicle has been released on the condition that its appearance would not be changed and shall be produced as and when required by the court. Suresh Rao had moved an application for the release of the helicopter (Bell 47 G-5-VT-BAP) on supardari. The CBI, which currently has possession of the helicopter, moved a no-objection certificate with the application, which was opposed by Romesh Sharma.

Suresh Rao who was allegedly detained by Romesh Sharma at his C-30 Mayfair Gardens house on October 20, had lodged a complaint at the Hauz Khas Police Station on the same day. In the FIR, Rao accused Sharma of threatening and assaulting him when he visited the Mayfair Gardens house to claim his helicopter.

According to Rao, the helicopter was leased in March 1995 to Sharma, who proposed to use the helicopter for electioneering in Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh, for Rs 80,000 a month. Sharma had allegedly agreed to all terms and paid an advance of Rs 3 lakh. He sent a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to Rao that mentioned sale of the helicopter for Rs 30 lakh instead of hire. Rao submitted the MoU to the court that was “ante-dated” (the document purported to have been executed on February 24 showed the date of the sale of the helicopter as March 29). Sharma, however, allegedly assured Rao in a telephone conversation that the MoU was a cover-up. During elections, he could spend only Rs 5 lakh, and if he submitted the cost of hiring the helicopter as Rs 40 lakh, it would be seized by election officials, he apparently told Rao.

Rao alleged that Sharma had promised he would tear up the MoU after the elections. As per the deal, Rao allegedly sent his engineer to Lucknow to dismantle the helicopter and transport it to Kerala via Mumbai on May 11, 1995. Sharma reportedly threatened the engineer and brought the helicopter back to Delhi. Repeated requests by Rao were allegedly ignored by Sharma and the accused apparently forged documents to show that the helicopter had been transferred to his name with Rao’s consent. His counsel was unable to produce documents to prove the claim.