2G accused denied permission to go abroad by court

Loop Telecom promoters I P Khaitan and his wife Kiran Khaitan, accused in a 2G scam-related case, were on Monday denied permission to travel overseas by a special court here.

Special CBI judge O P Saini dismissed the Khaitans' plea in which they had sought court's permission to travel to Dubai from Monday to April 30 on the grounds like health checkup, business interests and maintenance of their NRI status. The court said the judgments can be expected in the present and related cases in a short period of time ranging from three to four months and "letting the accused leave the country at such a critical stage of the case may not be prudent".

"The trial of the case is complete in all respects and even final arguments are complete. Since the arguments in the connected case(s) are almost complete, judgments can be expected in a short period of time ranging from three to four months. In such a situation, I find myself in agreement with Special Public Prosecutor that letting the accused to leave the country at such a critical stage of the case may not be prudent," the judge said.