Delhi court reserves order on bail plea of Lava MD in Vivo money laundering case

A court here on Monday reserved its order on the bail application of Hari Om Rai, the managing director of Lava International Company arrested in a money laundering case against Chinese smartphone-maker Vivo. Additional Sessions Judge Kiran Gupta reserved the order for January 12 after hearing the arguments of the counsels appearing for the accused and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Senior advocate Vikaram Chaudhari and advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for Rai, told the court that he has several medical ailments, and due to these, "keeping him in jail might be disastrous".

"Although the doctors in jail are good, but keeping him there will worsen his condition," the court was told by the advocates.


The application was opposed by the ED. The agency said that if released on bail, the accused may tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.

Rana had earlier told the court that though Rai's company and Vivo were in talks to launch a joint venture in India a decade ago, he had nothing to do with the Chinese firm or its representatives since 2014.

He further told the judge that the accused had no direct or indirect control over Vivo's business.

Rai has been arrested with a few others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The ED has alleged that Vivo "illegally" transferred Rs 62,476 crore to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India.