Updated on Wednesday, November 04, 2009, 00:32 IST Tags:Urea, Scam, SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today sought a response from CBI and External Affairs Ministry on the plea of a Brazil-born British resident, a key accused in the multi-crore rupee urea scam allegedly involving several influential persons, challenging his continued "detention".

Engenia Teles Pinto, wife of the accused A E Pinto, in her petition pleaded her 63-year old husband was suffering from cancer and paralysis, needed medicare but has been languishing in the country as he could not furnish the Rs 40 lakh bank guarantee ordered earlier by the Delhi High Court to enable him leave the country.

While being bitter that the trial has been on for over 12 years still at the Special CBI judge's court, the wife pleaded that even assuming he was convicted her husband would have served the maximum sentence of seven years and should have been back in the UK by this time.

Refusal of Indian courts to permit him leave for the UK was violation of Article 21 (liberty) and the extradition treaty under which he was extradited to India in August 2000, she claimed.

According to CBI, under the alleged conspiracy, prime accused B. Sanjeeva Rao, nephew of then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, and Sambasiva Rao, the Indian agent of Turkish firm Karsan Ltd, brokered a fake contract between National Fertilisers Limited and Karsan for the supply of two lakh tonnes of urea worth Rs 133 crore in 1995. A E Pinto was also involved in brokering the fradulent contract, CBI had alleged.

Bureau Report