HC denies immediate relief to Nirav Modi’s sister, brother-in-law

The Bombay High Court denied immediate relief to Purvi Modi and Mayank Mehta in the PNB fraud case, pending a hearing with the CBI.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday refused to grant immediate relief to Purvi Modi, sister of fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi, and her husband Mayank Mehta, on their petition seeking to drop them from the list of accused named by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Punjab National Bank fraud case. The court said that it could not grant the couple relief without hearing the CBI.

The Bombay high court on Tuesday refused to grant immediate relief to Purvi Modi, sister of fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi, and her husband Mayank Mehta, on their petition seeking to drop them from the list of accused named by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Punjab National Bank fraud case

The couple has turned approver in the money-laundering case launched by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), but the CBI in March filed a supplementary charge-sheet naming them as accused in its case.

Purvi and Mayank, both British citizens of Indian origin and residing in Hong Kong for the last 35 years, were granted pardon by the special PMLA court on January 4, 2021, in two ED complaints dated May 24, 2018, and February 28, 2019, against the prime conspirator Nirav Modi and various others. Thereafter, on September 7, 2021, they appeared before the special court, where all pending non-bailable warrants against them in the ED case were cancelled.

The special court, on account of the ED’s acceptance, granted pardon to the couple and marked them as approvers. Accordingly, they are now bound to make a full disclosure of the offence to the best of their knowledge. The special court noted that the duo would be in a unique position to provide substantial and important evidence, information, proof, and documents relevant to Nirav Modi and his dealings. “The information to be provided by them is crucial and significant. It will enable the court to effectively adjudicate the present case and help the prosecution in furtherance of their case against the other accused persons,” it stated.

On June 16, 2022, the couple was allowed to travel to Hong Kong for personal and professional obligations. However, the CBI, on June 30, 2022, intimated the court that it had named the petitioners as accused in its case and used the same grounds to request denial of their travel application. The couple contended that since they had already been granted pardon by the special PMLA court, they could not be arrayed as accused by the CBI at a belated stage in the same facts and circumstances.

Senior advocate Amit Desai, representing Purvi, stated that the investigation initiated against them by the CBI after a lapse of almost 4.5 years was wholly arbitrary. He added that the transaction sought to be investigated by the CBI had already been scrutinised in 2018 and in 2019 when the two chargesheets were filed.

“They were not named as accused in either the FIR or in the two chargesheets,” he said. “The CBI suddenly decided that they should be named in the chargesheet. Purvi is assisting the Government of India with the recovery of assets outside the country. All statements are given under oath, which can now be used against her. She will be in fear and will not give evidence if protection is not granted to her.”

The division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and S M Modak stated, “We will grant protection to you if we are convinced. But it is to be done only after hearing the other side. We will then consider.”

Purvi Modi was alleged to have diverted around ₹1201.18 crore (175.1 USD million). The chargesheet, submitted before the special CBI court on March 24, alleged that she was an active participant in the generation of proceeds of crime and the money laundering. It claimed that Purvi was a director in Dubai- and Hong Kong-based companies which received funds generated through fraudulent Letters of Undertakings (LoUs) obtained by Nirav Modi from the public-sector Punjab National Bank (PNB).

Purvi is already named as an accused in the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the money-laundering case. The CBI court is yet to take cognisance of the charge sheet.

Nirav Modi is the prime accused in the ₹13,850 crore fraud at PNB and was declared a fugitive economic offender in December 2019. Modi and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, are accused of defrauding PNB by obtaining fraudulent LoUs, enabling them to secure overseas loans without proper collateral.

The fraud, uncovered in 2018, allegedly involved officials from PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai who issued the unauthorised LoUs to Modi’s firms. The total loss to PNB was estimated at ₹6,498 crore. The transactions went unnoticed for several years due to the collusion of the bank officials. Modi, the mastermind behind the PNB scam, has been fighting his extradition process from the UK, where the authorities arrested him in 2019.