The Delhi High Court has directed the city police to investigate a case of alleged fraud against arms dealer Abhishek Verma after CBI, which was directed by the Special Judge to probe the matter, expressed its inability to pursue it further.
The case against Verma relates to alleged fraud worth Rs five crore on Cyprus-based investment company Corwip Limited which has given a complaint to CBI that Verma had cheated them of USD 1.1 million in the name of starting a telecom joint venture.
The company also claimed to have provided evidence to CBI in support of its complaint.
The SMSes and calls to Verma's lawyer seeking reaction remained unanswered. Verma and his wife Anca are in judicial custody in different cases.
Alleging that no action was taken on the complaint of Corwip by CBI, the company had approached Special CBI court here seeking a probe into the matter.
Its plea was granted in March this year by Special CBI Judge Swarna Kanta Sharma who ordered CBI to register FIR considering the matter to be "exceptional."
"It is very important to order investigation in such cases of cheating which involve the companies of foreign origin also since by such fraud and cheating, prestige of our country is also out at stake," Sharma had said in her order.
Challenging the order CBI, which has recently sought pardon for Verma from the Suprme Court in a separate matter, pleaded before the Delhi High Court that it can only probe cases in which public servants are involved.
"...The order of the learned Special Judge, CBI is modified to the extent that the investigating agency shall be the EOW wing of the Delhi Police and all documents which stand collected by the CBI shall be transferred to the EOW wing of the Delhi Police," Justice G S Sistani directed in a recent order.
