By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Friday deferred hearing on a plea for probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged mafia links of Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal.
A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan deferred the hearing on the plea by a Delhi-based journalist M. Furquan after Jet Airways counsel Ankur Chawla pleaded for adjournment on the grounds of absence of senior counsel Harish Salve, who had defended Jet Airways in the Bombay High Court on a similar petition.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court had dismissed a public interest lawsuit that alleged Goyal had links with underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel and this nexus could jeopardize national security.
Delhi scribe Furquan had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s verdict dismissing the petition against Goyal. He also sought a CBI probe into the matter.
Furquan, in his petition, has alleged that Goyal had illegally received investment from Dawood and used it to buy assets for the carrier.
The Bombay High Court had given the Jet Airways chief a clean chit against the allegations after the union home ministry vouched for his legitimate sources of funding and discounted reports that he had any mafia links.
Opposing the PIL in the Bombay High Court, the Jet Airways had denied allegations that its sources of funding for the acquisition of Air Sahara were illegitimate and its chairman Naresh Goyal had underworld links.
Regarding the money for acquisition for Air Sahara, Jet asserted that it had used its internal funds, including those raised through its IPO in 2005.