Ex-PNB clerk seeks discharge in ₹13,700-crore Nirav Modi fraud case, hearing on April 13

A former PNB clerk seeks to clear charges in the ₹13,700-crore fraud case linked to Nirav Modi, arguing lack of evidence for criminal intent.

MUMBAI: A former Punjab National Bank (PNB) clerk has moved a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai seeking to be cleared of charges in the ₹13,700-crore fraud case linked to fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. The court is expected to hear the plea on April 13.

Ex-PNB clerk seeks discharge in ₹13,700-crore Nirav Modi fraud case, hearing on April 13

The application was filed by Manoj Hanumant Kharat, who has argued that the evidence against him, even if accepted as true, does not show that he was part of any criminal conspiracy, cheating, or corruption.

The ₹13,700-crore PNB fraud, exposed in 2018, involved diamond trader Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. They allegedly used fake bank guarantees, known as Letters of Undertaking (LoUs), issued from PNB’s Mumbai branch to secure loans from other banks.

Kharat was posted as a Single Window Operator at the bank’s Brady House branch. In his plea, moved through advocate Asit Chaware, he said his job was limited to typing SWIFT messages, secure instructions used by banks to communicate transactions, based on directions from his senior, then deputy manager Gokulnath Shetty.

According to the plea, Shetty was responsible for verifying and approving these transactions and for entering them into the bank’s core banking system. Kharat has claimed he had no authority to approve loans or issue guarantees.

He has also said he was unaware that the LoUs were allegedly issued without proper approvals, required deposits, or entries in the bank’s system.

The plea further states that Kharat did not benefit from the alleged fraud. It argues that while there may have been lapses in duty, there is no proof that he acted with criminal intent, which is required to hold someone guilty of such offences.

The case is based on a complaint filed by PNB in January 2018. The bank had alleged that some of its officials, in collusion with firms linked to Modi and Choksi, issued LoUs without following due procedure.

These LoUs were sent through the SWIFT messaging system without being recorded in the bank’s internal system, allowing overseas branches of Indian banks to give loans that later became unpaid, causing huge losses to PNB.

Investigators have said the fraud was not limited to a few transactions but continued over several years. Between 2011 and 2017, more than 1,200 LoUs were allegedly issued without following safeguards, indicating serious lapses in the bank’s processes.

Kharat’s plea comes after a last year’s order in the same case in which a special CBI court discharged a former PNB executive director, the first such relief granted in the case. The court had said that negligence or administrative lapses alone cannot be treated as criminal offences without proof of intent or active involvement.

In his plea, Kharat has argued that at this stage, the court must see whether there is strong suspicion of wrongdoing, and not merely assume guilt based on his role in the bank. He has said holding clerical staff criminally liable without proof of intent would blur the line between negligence and crime.