Supreme Court in PNB Scam Suggests Nirav Modi's brother-in-law to Give CBI Letter of Authority to Access Bank Accounts

Supreme Court in PNB Scam Suggests Nirav Modi's brother-in-law to Give CBI Letter of Authority to Access Bank Accounts

The Supreme Court by its two judges bench comprising of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha in the matter of Central Bureau of Investigation vs. Mainak Mehta and others suggested Mainak Mehta- Nirav Modi's brother-in-law to provide the Central Bureau of Investigation (in short CBI) with a 'Letter of Authority' for bank accounts for bank accounts which are being investigated by the CBI in relation to the Punjab National Bank (in short PNB) fraud case.

The CBI had filed a Special Leave Petition before the Apex Court against the Bombay High Court order allowing Mehta to travel to his home in Hong Kong. Both the CBI and Enforcement Directorate are probing the PNB scam case against Nirav Modi and have filed charge sheets in the case.

The Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing on behalf of CBI, while challenging the Bombay High Court's decision of permitting him to fly back to Hong Kong stated, "the situation here is- last time I requested my learned friend to give us a letter of authority which was refused. That is why we had to get a Letters of Rogatory (in short LR). We apprehend that huge amount of money has gone into those accounts. He is a foreign national, his wife is Belgian national. Once he leaves, he will not come back."

Mr. Mehta is a British national who presently resides in Hong Kong with his family. He flew back to Indian on 8th September, 2021 and was summoned before the Bombay High Court. After a few months, Mehta expressed that his work back home in Hong Kong was pending and that his family, consisting of a wife, children, and elderly parents, needed him. Mehta was permitted to travel home.

The CBI issued the LR to the Singapore Court in order to acquire evidence against Mehta in the PNB scam case. The LR is a document which is used to make a request through foreign Court to gain evidence from a person residing under the territorial jurisdiction of the requested Court within the ambit of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (in MLAT) and on the basis of reciprocity if no such treaty exists.

According to Mehta, he was accused only in the ED case, which is why he had travelled to Mumbai from Hong Kong. However, the CBI flagged issues regarding non-disclosure by Mehta of transactions in bank accounts, including the one situated in Singapore and two transactions of USD 8.9 million and USD 1.8 million transferred by Modi's father. CBI said Mehta should share the details with it after which he might be considered for travelling abroad.

To this Chief Justice DY Chandrachud questioned-

"Are you willing to give the letter of authority? What we suggest is, Mr Desai, either you accede to the request and you give Letter of Authority to CBI. Alternatively, we'll hear the matter."

Following which the Senior Advocate Desai answered-

"There is no issue of non-cooperation. We have always cooperated. Then the CBI is coming here and saying this. Give me interim relief to travel. There is a business meeting happening in Dubai, first time after covid. Allow me to travel for this period."

The Apex Court was not inclined to the same and stated, "once we do that, we are dismissing the SLP of CBI without hearing the matter. That cannot work. We cannot compel your client to give the letter but then we will hear the SLP. You may reflect on whether your client wants to give the letter of authority. We will allow you to reflect on our suggestion to give the letter to CBI. Take it from us that if you do not give it, we will not hold it against you. But take till Tuesday to decide."

The CJI asked the ASG to complete the procedure within reasonable time period in case the letter is provided to CBI. The matter is now further listed for 9th February, 2023