In an indirect attack against those who flee the country during the period of their court case trials, the Supreme Court refused to allow Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia to travel abroad.
Ruia, who is an accused in the 2G spectrum scam had requested the court to allow him to visit Canada, US and Saudi Arabia for business ‘interests’. His lawyers had also maintained that he had never violated his bail conditions.
However, the Court wasn’t convinced and struck down his request. “We have had a bad experience earlier. A person like you said he will return but he didn’t return,” the apex court observed, reports NDTV.
A bench headed by justice J S Khehar was apparently referring to business tycoon Vijay Mallya.
This is the second instance in a year where he was denied permission to go abroad. In February, a CBI court did not grant him permission to leave the country saying that charges against him were ‘very serious’.
Ruia was booked in 2011 by the Central Bureau of Investigation for irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum. A year later, a CBI court framed charges against him and other accused under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with section 420 (cheating) of the IPC. He is currently out on bail.
(With inputs from PTI)