Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday quashed the ongoing investigation by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case against Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal.
A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice PK Chavan quashed the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) lodged by the ED on February 20, 2020, while deeming the case as illegal.
The division bench quashed the case following a plea by Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal seeking the quashing of the ECIR. The Goyal couple was booked by the ED under the ECIR on the basis of an FIR filed by the Mumbai Police. The Mumbai Police had booked Naresh Goyal and Anita Goyal on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, and forgery of the IPC following a complaint by Akbar Travels.
Also read: Cheating case: ED opposes closure of probe against Naresh Goyal
Rajendran Neruparambil, the Chief Financial Officer of Akbar Travels of India Private Limited had filed the complaint against Jet Airways. In its police complaint, Akbar Travels claimed that it suffered losses worth over Rs 46 crores after Jet Airways canceled flight operations in October 2018. However, the police filed the closure report in the case in March 2020 giving a sigh of relief to the Goyals.
In the closure report, the Mumbai Police said that it had not found any substance in the criminal complaint. The report was later upheld by the Metropolitan Magistrate Court and also the Supreme Court. Amid a protest by the ED against the court orders, the Goyals moved the High Court seeking quashing of the ECIR. Pertinently, Jet Airways racked up debts of nearly Rs 8,500 crore after closing its operations.
