Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) Businessman Abhishek Verma, an accused in the naval war room leak, Saturday failed to appear in a Delhi court for recording his evidence in a cheating and defamation case filed by him against his former partner based in the US.

Verma filed the case against his former partner and US-based lawyer C. Edmonds Allen and former Indian partner Arjun Arora.

Verma, along with his Romanian wife Anca Neacsu, is lodged in Tihar Jail in a separate graft case.

His counsel told the court that he would not be able to appear Saturday as he was to meet his wife in jail. The court would next hear the case Aug 13.

Metropolitan Magistrate Surya Malik Grover took cognizance of Verma’s private complaint June 4 and listed the matter for recording of evidence July 21.

Verma alleged that his former Indian partner Arjun Arora and US-based lawyer C. Edmonds Allen cheated him of nearly Rs.55 crore (over $9 million) around 2008.

The complainant claimed that he offered consultancy to the accused but they cheated him.

“The accused having malafide intention refused to make the said payment despite the fact that I was diligently providing consultancy services to them,” said Verma.

The businessman is also an accused in the 2006 war room leak case that was linked to leaking classified documents from the directorate of naval operations.

The Central Bureau of Investigation June 9 arrested Verma and his Romanian wife Anca Neacsu in a separate corruption case over which they are in judicial custody.

The probe agency allegedly that the two received money from a Swiss arms company Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD) to stall the blacklisting proceedings initiated against it by the Indian government.