Mehul Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal denied bail in UK

London: Criminal lawyer Vijay Aggarwal, arrested in London last month on charges of sexual assault, was on Wednesday denied bail by a UK court due to the seriousness of the allegations.

Aggarwal, who has represented fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi in fraud and money laundering proceedings, appeared before Justice John Milne at Southwark Crown Court charged with 13 counts under the UK's Serious Crime Act and Modern Slavery Act.

In details that emerged in court, the 57-year-old Delhi advocate is accused of non-consensual "sexual touching" of a female and facilitating the travel of women with a "view to exploitation" – allegations described by the judge as "deeply disturbing".

"These are very serious allegations and there is a significant risk of (the accused) not attending at trial (if granted bail)," said Justice Milne.

The judge accepted the defence argument that there was no significant risk of Aggarwal committing further offences, but ruled that he “cannot accede to the request for bail” as there is a risk that he would “leave the country to avoid trial” – which has been set for March 15, 2027.

Justice Milne pointed to a “planned and sinister recruiting campaign" by Aggarwal to draw young women to apply for the “sham” post of personal assistant (PA) in search of "sexually pliant” candidates. He said it was indicative of the fact that the accused was “prepared to abuse his senior position” for his own ends.

As a native and citizen of India, the judge noted that his family, business and life were based there with no “community ties" in the UK – a country he extensively travelled to recruit despite having no “legitimate basis” for him requiring a PA in London.

Aggarwal’s barrister, Sasha Wass, described her client as a man of “outstanding character and reputation” who has been forced to share a prison cell at Wandsworth in south-west London for over a month.

She referenced the “myriad conditions” akin to house arrest being offered in favour of his bail application, such as sureties amounting to several hundred pounds – including 130,000 pounds by his daughter, who was present in court.

Aggarwal, who watched from the dock clutching a bag of clothes in the hope of being freed on bail, had offered security worth 230,000 pounds – which the court was told was the maximum he could afford to withdraw from his law firm without impacting its day-to-day functioning.

Describing him as a "hugely respected” lawyer in India, his barrister also raised his health conditions related to a double hernia and kidney problems as bail grounds.

However, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) barrister Oliver Wellings said such issues were a “routine matter” for the prison service to manage and opposed bail due to the “grave nature” of the allegations and “strength of evidence” against him.

The women referenced in court as the key witnesses in the sexual assault case have anonymity under UK law.

Meanwhile, Aggarwal’s assistant, Manpreet Kaur, charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting sexual assault and already refused bail at a previous hearing, was to appear via videolink from prison.

An administrative error meant that her appearance could not be organised on Wednesday, which led to the formal arraignment of both accused on 13 counts raised by the CPS being delayed to next month.

Aggarwal and Kaur, 41, were arrested at a property on Brick Street in the posh Mayfair area of London on August 11 over alleged sexual offences on May 26 and August 9.

The 29 Brick Street property is listed online as a “Mayfair Residence Townhouse”, made up of multi-storey luxury apartments that are available for rent.

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