FERA case: Abhishek Verma guilty of non-complaince of summons

NEW DELHI: Controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma has been held guilty by a Delhi court for non- compliance of summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a FERA violation matter in 1999.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jyoti Kler will pronounce the order on the quantum of sentence on August 9. The maximum jail term for the offence is three years.

During arguments, ED counsel N K Matta submitted that due to his defiance of the summons, the probe was stalled.

According to the ED, it had the filed a complaint on December 14, 1999 before the court saying Verma was required for investigation. He was summoned to appear before it, but he had deliberately avoided appearance and hence committed an offence under the now-repealed Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.

The complaint filed by ED was for violation of seven summons between July and November 1999 issued by it to Verma to appear before the investigation officer of the agency.

The charges in this case were framed against Verma in January 2005 when he had denied the allegations and claimed trial.