In a relief to Rajat Gupta, the India-born former Goldman Sachs director, a US court has agreed to rehear his appeal to throw out his 2012 insider- trading conviction that landed him in jail.

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan yesterday agreed to revisit its rejection of 67-year-old Gupta's appeal, five weeks before his release from home confinement on March 13.

Gupta, who was also the global managing director of McKinsey & Co, in the past too had filed several appeals, including to the US Supreme Court to overturn his conviction and a two-year prison term but the courts rejected his arguments and affirmed his sentence.

Gupta, the highest-profile corporate executive found guilty in the US crackdown on insider trading, was convicted in 2012 of passing illegal tips about Goldman Sachs to Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam while serving on the Goldman Sachs board.