New Delhi, May 13 (UNI) A Delhi Court on Thursday refused to grant anticipatory bail to businessman and restaurateur Navneet Kalra in connection with the oxygen concentrator black marketing case registered against him by the Delhi Police.
"Application is dismissed," Additional Session Judge Sandeep Garg said. Oxygen concentrators, required by COVID-19 patients, were seized from the accused upscale restaurants.
The bench had reserved the order on the pre-arrest bail for Thursday after hearing the arguments of both the prosecution and defense at length.
Kalra has been on the run since the recovery of 524 oxygen concentrators from three of his restaurants - Khan Chacha, Town Hall, and Nege & Ju between Wednesday and Friday, according to investigators. He could not be tracked despite raids being conducted in Delhi and adjoining states such as Uttarakhand, the police said.
Investigators said that they have evidence that shows the oxygen concentrators were bought for Rs 14,000-15,000 and sold at Rs 70,000-75,000.
Kalra’s counsel had argued that all rules complied and the transactions of the sale were through banking channels. He further added that oxygen concentrators are not cosmetic, not luxury, instead it was used when somebody is medically unfit. “When selling through banking channels, where is the offense”, Kalra’s counsel had submitted.
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