Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday said that he had no connection with his nephew Ratul Puri's business, calling the latter's arrest in a bank fraud case a "mala fide action."
"I am neither a shareholder, director or anything (in the Puri's business). To me, it appears to be a purely mala fide action. I have full faith that courts will take a corrective stand in this," he told reporters when asked about his nephew, Puri's arrest.
On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Ratul Puri after questioning him in relation to a Rs 354-crore bank fraud case.
On Sunday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked Puri, former executive director of Moser Baer, and four others in connection with the bank fraud.
Besides Puri, those who were booked by the agency are -- Deepak Puri, Nita Puri, Sanjay Jain, and Vineet Sharma.
They have been booked for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption on the complaint filed by Murali Chetturi, a deputy general manager of Central Bank of India.
Earlier, calling the arrest of its former executive director Ratul Puri by Enforcement Directorate (ED) as "unfortunate", Moser Baer said the company had operated in accordance with all legal compliances while adding that the case is 'motivated.'
"The arrest by Enforcement Directorate is unfortunate. Moser Baer had operated in accordance with all legal compliances and this case now, when Moser Baer is in National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), is motivated," Moser Baer said in a statement.
Puri is also an accused in a money laundering case connected to the Rs 3,600-crore Agusta Westland VVIP chopper scam.
On Monday, Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar had reserved the order for August 21 on Puri's plea seeking cancellation of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him in the case.
On August 14, the Delhi High Court had granted Puri interim protection from arrest till August 20.
(With inputs from ANI)
