A special CBI court on Thursday transferred an alleged fraud case against absconding diamond businessman Nirav Modi to the magistrate's court after the CBI stated that corruption charges could not be proved against officials of the Punjab National Bank. According to reports from The Times of India, this case against Modi, directors of firms linked to him, and unknown officials of the PNB was registered by the central agency following a complaint filed by the bank's Mumbai zonal office. Public Prosecutor Vikram Singh, representing the CBI, submitted that a charge-sheet will be filed only against private individuals, hence the case would fall outside the jurisdiction of the special CBI court and must be tried by a magistrate. Special Judge J P Darekar allowed the probe agency's plea for transfer of the case.
As per the complaint, the bank was cheated of ₹321.88 crore as credit facilities given to Modi's firms were misused. During an internal inquiry, the bank found circular transactions between Nirav Modi-promoted partnership firms, namely Solar Exports, Stellar Diamonds and Diamond R US, and Modi-promoted Firestar International Ltd (FIL) and Firestar Diamonds International Pvt Ltd (FDIPL), the complaint claimed. The accused were initially booked under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The transfer of the case to the magistrate's court represents a significant development in the ongoing legal proceedings against Modi. As reported by The Times of India, this decision follows the CBI's assessment that corruption charges against PNB officials cannot be substantiated. The case was originally registered by the central agency after the bank's Mumbai zonal office filed a complaint regarding the alleged fraud involving Modi's business operations. The CBI conducted a thorough investigation yielding no incriminating material under the Prevention of Corruption Act against either the PNB officials or private individuals.
Absconding diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are prime accused in the multi-crore scam being probed by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate. They are accused of siphoning off over ₹13,000 crore of public money from the PNB using Letters of Undertaking and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) by bribing officials of the bank's Brady House branch in Mumbai. Choksi is facing extradition proceedings in a Belgian court, while Nirav Modi is lodged in a London prison. The current case transfer specifically relates to the ₹321.88 crore fraud involving Modi's business operations, while the broader investigation continues into the larger alleged scam.
