Special CBI Court Judge AV Gujarathi has granted Maiank Mehta, the brother-in-law of absconding businessman Nirav Modi, a “conditional pardon” in the case linked to the ₹13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.
The pardon is subject to Mehta’s “full and true disclosure of the whole of the circumstances within knowledge relative to offence and every other person concerned”, according to a PTI report. For purpose of the same, the court has also marked him an approver in the case, the order copy on September 22 showed.
What did the Special CBI Court say?
After hearing both sides and considering the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) provisions under which the plea was filed, the court ruled that “the accused shall be marked as approver”.
The court directed that the accused, currently staying abroad, shall be directed to present himself before the court.
“The prosecution shall take necessary steps to facilitate the approach of the accused to India to take part in the proceeding as soon as may be, in the facts and circumstances prevailing currently,” the court said.
PNB scam: What happened?
Absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are prime accused in the multi-crore PNB scam, being probed by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
They are accused of allegedly siphoning off over ₹13,000 crore of public money from the PNB using Letters of Undertaking (LoU) 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 Modi is lodged in a London jail.
