ED in legal contest over Look Out Circular against “close aide” of Ratul Puri

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in a legal tangle over a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against Mohit Jain, a “close aide” of Ratul Puri, who is charge-sheeted by the ED for his alleged involvement in the VVIP chopper scandal.

A local court has allowed Jain a weeklong visit to Dubai until February 5 following a Rs. 5 lakh deposit a 48-hour reporting on arrival. These conditions were put after the ED strongly contested Jain’s request in the court.

This is Jain’s second foreign visit after the LoC was opened against him. The first one was to Singapore last month, where the ED has alleged he “destroyed crucial evidence”.


Contesting his visit to Dubai ED argued that “the accounts/evidence of various entities linked to the case also exist in Dubai which are likely to be tampered, if he (Jain) is permitted to travel abroad”.

The ED’s submission was that Jain has been “managing the financials” of Puri’s family and also helped him “escape the clutches of law”.

The court, however, didn’t agree fully with the ED and permitted Jain to visit Dubai while placing conditions on him.

“ED has apprehended that Jain has destroyed evidence in Singapore but there is no material shown to Court which led to said apprehension. ED has failed to place on record any material to show that Jain may flee from justice”, stated the order.

The LOC, on the other hand, remains in contest with the court deferring Jain's plea seeking revocation of the same to March.

ED’s case is that Jain “had hid Ratul Puri in his house between August 8 to August 12, 2019 when Puri was incommunicado”. The agency has further alleged that “Jain is planning to run away and shift to Singapore with his family to avoid any enquiry regarding his disproportionate income and assets which he has gained through unfair means”.

Ratul Puri has strongly and repeatedly denied all the accusations levelled against him. Puri was granted bail by a local Court last December.

ED had told the court that “numerous documents” pertaining to the chopper case were burnt by Puri and “bags of documents were shifted by him to thwart the investigation”.