Bank fraud case: Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal sent to 14-day judicial custody, to stay in Arthur Road jail

PTI, Sep 14, 2023, 3:54 PM IST

A special PMLA court here on Thursday remanded Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in 14-day judicial custody in a money laundering case linked to an alleged fraud of Rs 538 crore at the Canara Bank.

The court accepted Goyal’s request to send him to the Arthur Road jail in South Mumbai.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Goyal on September 1 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following a long session of questioning at the central agency’s office here.

The 74-year-old businessman was produced before the special judge for cases under PMLA, MG Deshspande, at the end of his ED remand on Thursday.

The court remanded him in judicial custody as no further remand was sought by the probe agency.

The court also accepted Goyal’s request to send him to the Arthur Road jail in Byculla instead of Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. Later, Goyal moved an application saying he suffers from a host of health issues and requested that he be allowed to undergo daily medical checkups by his family physician, specialist consulting doctors and personal doctors, and be provided with medical facilities on a regular basis during his stay in the jail. In the application, Goyal said he was suffering from ischemic heart disease and was operated at the Asian Heart Institute for “treatment of 80 per cent of blockages in his left main artery which is a life threatening condition”.

His plea said he also has hypertension, diabetes, restricted mobility, severe shoulder impingement and neck pain due to a fall in June 2022. In another application, Goyal sought appropriate bedding on a daily basis considering his medical conditions and home-cooked food as per dietary prescription.

The court has asked the prosecution to file its say on Goyal’s applications.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former company executives of the now-grounded private airline in connection with an alleged Rs 538-crore fraud case at the Canara Bank.

The FIR was registered on the bank’s complaint which alleged that it sanctioned credit and loans to Jet Airways (India) Ltd to the tune of Rs 848.86 crore of which Rs 538.62 crore was outstanding.