Rajat Gupta denied permission by US court to visit India

Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta had sought permission to visit India in February for a family wedding but a US court denied his request citing "strong motivation" for the India-born convicted executive to use the occasion to flee to his native country.

Gupta, 65, convicted on insider trading charges in June 2012, had written to US District Judge Jed Rakoff on February 13 seeking to "modify his release conditions" to permit him to travel to New Delhi from February 27 to March 10, 2014 to attend his nephew's wedding.

Federal prosecutor Richard Tarlowe had submitted in court that Gupta should not be allowed to travel to India for the 11 days.

Gupta had made the request to travel to India in February while his appeal to throw out his conviction on insider trading charges was still pending in federal court.

The IIT and Harvard Business School alumnus suffered a setback after the US Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the verdict of the trial court that had sentenced him to two years in prison on insider trading charges.

Rakoff, who had presided over Gupta's trial in the summer of 2012, said in his February 24 order denying Gupta's request to travel to India that there is significant flight risk if Gupta is allowed to travel to his homeland, with which he has "immense ties".

Rakoff had said, "India would be the ideal place for him (Gupta) to flee. He has immense ties to that country and more than significant assets with which to maintain a comfortable life there. If his application (to travel to India) were granted, he could enter India lawfully with excellent opportunities to delay extradition for years or avoid it altogether."

He had further said that the wedding could take place in Gupta's absence.  

The judge also said that Gupta's family, which has close ties to India, could "readily visit" him there or even "relocate" if Gupta settles in India.  

While Gupta had offered to sign a "waiver of extradition," Rakoff cited the "immense delays" in the execution of "even the simplest judicial acts in India" suggesting that extraditing Gupta to the US could take years or be avoided totally.