Gupta relatives denied bail in India

An Indian court has refused bail to a member of the corruption-accused Gupta family in connection with allegedly abetting the suicide of a businessman. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Ajay and Anil Gupta were recently arrested in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand state. News24 reports that the case concerns the death of Satinder Sawhney, a building developer working on housing projects with them. He left a suicide note in which he accused the two men of threatening him. The Times of India quoted India's Director of Prosecution Girish Pancholi as saying that Sawhney had accused Ajay and Anil Gupta of having ‘forced him to commit suicide’ after filing ‘fake cases against him’. The suspects can approach the High Court, but the case is so serious that it will be difficult for them to secure bail. In 2018, the Zondo Commission found that the Guptas had colluded with former President Jacob Zuma to siphon off state assets. A Dubai court ruled against extraditing them to Pretoria on a technicality. South Africa's Department of Justice spokesperson Chrispin Phiri yesterday told AFP that Ajay was not the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. ‘Our Red Notice was for Atul and Rajesh Gupta. Whilst Ajay is indeed one of the Gupta brothers, he was not listed on the Red Notice sent to Interpol,’ Phiri said, adding that Atul and Rajesh were most recently reported to still be in the UAE.