New Delhi: Delhi-based criminal lawyer Vijay Aggarwal has built a career defending high-profile clients accused of white-collar crimes, including Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi in the Punjab National Bank fraud case, and former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar in the alleged ICICI Bank-Videocon loan fraud. Now, Aggarwal himself is facing criminal charges.
The 57-year-old Indian citizen was arrested in London on 11 August and charged with sexual assault on 13 August over allegations by two women under Section 3 of the UK Sexual Offences Act 2003. The act defines sexual assault as intentionally touching another person sexually where the other person does not consent, and the offender does not reasonably believe that the person consents. Appearing before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 13 August, he was charged with four counts of sexual assault.
According to Metropolitan Police, the alleged offences took place on 26 May and 9 August.
Now, Aggarwal and his associate Manpreet Kaur have been remanded in custody, with their trial to begin on 10 September, the Metropolitan Police confirmed to ThePrint. Kaur faces a charge of intentionally encouraging the commission of the crime.
Aggarwal’s office has yet to issue any statement.
ThePrint reached Aggarwal’s office for comment via text but had not received any response by the time of publication.
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High-profile cases
Vijay Aggarwal has been representing Mehul Choksi in his extradition case in Antwerp, Belgium, where the fugitive businessman has been in jail since his arrest on an extradition request from India in April 2025. He has also represented Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi. In 2018, he publicly spoke as Modi’s lawyer when allegations arising from the Punjab National Bank fraud investigation surfaced.
Aggarwal has represented many companies and business owners in high-stakes white-collar crime cases. He defended the key accused persons—including Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa, Vinod Goenka and connected individuals such as Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd director Rajiv Agarwal—in the 2G scam trial.
The case relates to the 2008 allocation of 2G airwaves to private companies by the government under then Union Telecom Minister A. Raja at low, outdated 2001 prices instead of through a competitive auction, which resulted in an official auditor estimate of a massive “presumptive loss” of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
In 2017, a special CBI court acquitted all the accused, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove any charges or submit legally admissible evidence of corruption or a major loss. In a December 2025 order in the appeal filed by the CBI, the Delhi HC noted that Aggarwal is “stated to be abroad, and due to poor network connection, is unable to join through VC,” thus renotifying the case.
Before the Delhi HC, Aggarwal defended their bail applications with senior advocates Soli Sorabjee, Ram Jethmalani, Mukul Rohtagi, Rajiv Nayar and Neeraj Kishan Kaul appearing for the other accused.
Aggarwal also defended businessman Ratul Puri, facing money-laundering charges in the AgustaWestland case, over his custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He secured regular bail for Puri in December 2019, arguing that his client had no connection to the defence deals.
Aggarwal also defended key accused in the National Herald-Young Indian probed by the ED. He successfully advanced procedural arguments demonstrating that a money laundering charge cannot be sustained without a legally valid predicate offence, a defence that aligned with the trial court, where the special judge ultimately refused to take cognisance of the ED’s complaint against the prime accused.
When Zee News editors Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia were arrested by Delhi Police Crime Branch in 2012 and lodged in Tihar jail for 20 days following an extortion and criminal conspiracy complaint by Naveen Jindal’s Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), Aggarwal represented Sudhir Chaudhary and his co-worker in court and secured their bail. He also filed counter-defamation charges on their behalf.
Between 2019 and 2021, Aggarwal defended former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, in the alleged multi-crore ICICI Bank-Videocon loan fraud and money laundering case probed by the CBI and ED. He successfully argued the bail plea for Chanda Kochhar before a special PMLA court, securing her release by leveraging provisions under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) under which strict twin bail provisions do not apply to women. Aggarwal also obtained a stay order from a Delhi court in 2019 in favour of Kochhar to prevent the screening and marketing of a Bollywood biopic titled Chanda: A Signature that Ruined a Career, arguing that it was highly defamatory.
In 2020, he represented Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetable director Rajiv Agarwal, who was acquitted in the 2G scam case. Before the Delhi High Court, he challenged the appeal application seeking to know how the central government gave clearance and approval to the agency to file an appeal against the acquittal of the accused.
He urged the High Court to direct the Centre to place on record the documents containing the process to be followed before deciding to file the appeal.
In September 2025, Aggarwal was part of a team of lawyers who successfully defended former Moser Baer India Ltd director Nita Puri. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs had issued an order directing the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to investigate Moser Baer’s affairs. Justice Sachin Datta held that the ministry’s order failed to satisfy the ingredients necessary for exercise of power under the Companies Act and quashed the order.
Aggarwal also appeared for a petitioner in an important April 2026 ruling where the Delhi High Court curtailed the routine executive use of Look Out Circulars, establishing that the right to travel abroad is an intrinsic facet of personal liberty under Article 21. Justice P.K. Kaurav in this judgement, covering multiple clubbed petitions, ruled that bank officials of Public Sector Banks lack the legal authority to routinely request LOCs. Routine bank loan defaults or private financial liabilities cannot justify the curtailment of a person’s fundamental right to travel abroad, the court had said in the ruling.
Disputes with BCD and NDBA
In 2011, the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) summoned Vijay Aggarwal to explain how he could practice as an advocate and work as a chartered accountant simultaneously. Dual professions aren’t allowed under the Advocates Act in India.
The BCD sent him a misconduct notice and took action after noting that he was allegedly running a website in which some of the content was against the rules and regulations governing the conduct of lawyers. Aggarwal denied the allegations, saying he was an advocate exclusively.
In March 2013, the New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA) expelled him and sealed his chamber at the Patiala House Courts complex after allegations of him abusing and threatening another lawyer and bringing bouncers into the court premises. Aggarwal claimed that the action was motivated by a local work dispute and denied the allegations. The Delhi High Court later urged both sides to reach an out-of-court settlement.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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