Delhi court dismisses plea for 5-day custodial interrogation of Navneet Kalra
Navneet Kalra was nabbed from Gurugram on May 16 night and formally arrested the next day.
FollowA Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the Delhi Police's plea seeking five-day police custody of Navneet Kalra in connection with allegedly hoarding and black marketing life-saving oxygen concentrators.
The Delhi Police told the court that Kalra’s custodial interrogation is required to confront him with data of mobile phone, money trail and bank account details.
Navneet Kalra's bail application will be heard at 2 pm on May 25, Tuesday.
Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Vasundhara Azad turned down Delhi Police's application seeking 5 days police custody remand for Kalra after hearing the submissions of Advocate Vineet Malhotra and Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava.
A case was filed under Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, among other provision of law, against Kalra after the Delhi Police recovered oxygen concentrators from "Khan Chacha" and other restaurants owned by him.
On May 5, a case was registered against Kalra under Section 420 (cheating), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, Essential Commodities Act and Epidemic Diseases Act.
The absconding businessman was nabbed from Gurugram on May 16 night and formally arrested the next day.
The police claimed that the imported concentrators were being sold in the black market amid the Covid-19 crisis.
He was sent to 14-day judicial custody in the case by the Metropolitan Magistrate after it opined that no case was made out for further extension of police custody.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday recovered 151 liquor bottles after it raided multiple premises linked to businessman Navneet Kalra and his associates in Delhi-NCR as part of a money-laundering probe linked to a recent case of alleged hoarding and black-marketing of oxygen concentrators, officials said.
However, advocate Vineet Malhotra, representing Kalra, opposed the remand application of the police on the grounds that he is fully cooperating in the investigation, according to the news agency.
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