Law firm hired by Nirav gets CBI court relief

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court gave relief to the law firm hired by fugitive businessman Nirav Modi last year for legal forensic analysis.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court gave relief to the law firm hired by fugitive businessman Nirav Modi last year for legal forensic analysis. The accounts of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) were frozen by the CBI in September and last week, the special court allowed their accounts to be defreezed.

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CAM came under the scanner in February 2018 when the CBI recovered boxes of original documents of Nirav Modi’s bank transactions at the firm’s office. The CBI had alleged that CAM received ₹2.12 crore from Nirav Modi as legal fees as proceeds of crime. Soon after, the firm moved court to defreeze their account, claiming Nirav Modi had approached them in January 2018 for legal forensic analysis. To this end, their office had received 60 cartons of documents in early February 2018. Days later, the CBI raided CAM’s office and took the documents. CAM claimed that the professional engagement was soon discontinued and it raised a bill of ₹24.13 lakhs. The remaining amount of ₹1.88 crores was retained towards attorney lien. Accepting CBI’s submission, the court ordered CAM’s account be defreezed on condition that ₹2.12 crore remain untouched.