New Delhi, 16 October (TNN). The High Court has directed to return the seized passport of Rajiv Saxena, an accused in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam case.
Earlier, it was expressed that they would run away to a third country, so their passport should not be returned.
A single judge bench of the High Court headed by Justice Naveen Chawla heard the case.
The bench granted relief to Saxena on 25 January 2019, revoking the order to seize passport. Saxena challenged the order of 25 January 2019 issued by the defendant authority, in which his passport was suspended.
Advocate R.V. on behalf of Rajiv Saxena before a single bench of Justice Naveen Chawla. K. Handu and Rajat Manchanda said the order to seize the passport should be rescinded, as the petitioner's side was not heard before the order was passed. Passport seizure orders cannot be extended indefinitely.
Advocates Ajay Digpal and DP Singh, appearing for the central government, said that Rajiv Saxena's passport was confiscated to bring him from Dubai to India. India has extradition treaty with Dubai. It was feared that he would run away to a third country. This could have affected the investigation. The order to seize the passport was extended because the investigation was going on and Saxena was to be questioned.
Rajiv Saxena was extradited and brought to India on 31 January 2019.
AKK / JNS
