Court dismisses CID’s plea to issue arrest warrant against Ruia

The Barrackpore Court dismissed the plea of state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in which the state run probe agency wanted the Court to issue arrest warrant against Jessop chairperson Pawan Ruia.

On Tuesday, the court rejected the CID’s pledge. CID had decided to move the Barrackpore court seeking its intervention in the Jessop case, a few days ago. CID will now appeal to issue arrest warrant of Ruia in Calcutta High Court.

A CID source said that after this court verdict, the next plan of action will be discussed soon. Senior CID sources said they might pray that Jessop chairperson Pawan Ruia is not cooperating with them. The court will decide the rest.

The decision to seek legal help was taken by senior officers after a meeting at Bhawani Bhawan a few days ago. 

CID sources said they wanted to take each step in a calculated manner.

The High Court has ordered that there cannot be any coercive action. The police or investigating agencies generally seek an arrest warrant when someone is absconding. It would be wrong to perceive that Ruia is not in contact with investigating agency. He has been in regular correspondence with investigating agency through his lawyers who had sought two weeks’ time. CID source said that they believe that he is trying to think about options.

The source also pointed out that Ruia has already provided some crucial documents that have reached CID. The Jessop chairman has even provided medical certificates that show he is admitted at the Moolchand Hospital near Defence Colony in South Delhi at present. CID is hoping that better sense will prevail and he will join the probe by next week.

However, a team comprising senior officers of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) will be visiting the Jessop factory to probe into the incident in which rakes delivered by the company went missing.

According to the sources, rakes and equipment of the Railways went missing from the Jessop factory and those were supplied by the BHEL. According to the report given by the Railways to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), property worth Rs 50 crore went missing from the Jessop factory.