SC refers PIL in Ashok Jain case to amicus curiae

NEW DELHI, May 5: A public interest petition filed by the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) accusing the Government of interferenc...

NEW DELHI, May 5: A public interest petition filed by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) accusing the Government of “interference” in the investigation of alleged FERA violations by media baron Ashok Jain was referred to amicus curiae Anil Divan today.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice J S Verma, Justice S P Bharucha and Justice Sen, said that there were several PILs filed with the court dealing with alleged Government interference in investigating agencies. Therefore, the court said, it should be examined whether all these could be dealt with together. The court asked Divan to determine whether PUCL’s petition, signed by Prashant Bhushan, could be clubbed together with the Jain hawala case.

According to the petition, senior Government officials “colluded” to prevent the Enforcement Directorate from investigating Ashok Jain’s alleged FERA violations. The petition alleges that Jain has been avoiding interrogation on health grounds and that these are “specious.”

The petition also alleges that Ashok Jain violated RBI guidelines while paying Rs 10.8 crore abroad to N S Hoon in the mid-’70s for buying shares in Turner Morrison & Company owned by Hoon.

The petition further alleges that Jain bought a house in Friends’ Colony, Delhi, from M M Sehgal for $ 150,000. The payment was alleged to be made from Jain’s Zurich account. Sehgal was arrested for FERA violations last month and is at present in Tihar Jail.

Citing the ED raid on Jain’s New Delhi residence on January 4, 1997, and the subsequent raid at the residence of Keshav Bangur of the Bank of Rajasthan, the petition alleges that there is evidence of further FERA violations.

Incidentally, Bangur, in a sworn statement to ED on March 5, had stated that he had paid Rs 4 crore to a Calcutta-based businessman (Arun Kumar Bajoria) on behalf of Jain. According to the PUCL petition, Bangur reportedly told the ED that this money was to be deposited in Jain’s foreign bank account.