Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, a key accused in the USD 2 billion PNB fraud case, cannot return to India as he is afraid of "getting lynched" and is being compared to demon 'Ravan', his lawyer told a special court on Saturday, 1 November.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), however, dismissed the claim, saying if he (Nirav) felt there were "security threats", he should have filed a police complaint.
Nirav Modi's lawyer Vijay Agarwal stated this, while arguing before Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court Judge MS Azmi, against the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) application to declare Modi a fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
Referring to Nirav Modi's claims of "security threats" in India, the ED said these points are "irrelevant" to the case.
Agarwal, however, said the diamond trader had responded to the emails sent by the investigating agencies and expressed his inability to return due to "security threats".
"My (Modi's) 50-ft tall effigy was burnt in India. There was evidence of a mob lynching (against me) and I (Modi) was being compared with 'Ravan'. I have been projected as evil and being made the poster boy of the bank fraud," Agarwal cited Nirav Modi, as saying in the letter.
He also claimed that Modi cannot be declared a fugitive, as various legal requirements stipulated by the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act have not been met by the investigating agency.
"The main reason the ED is seeking to declare Nirav Modi, a fugitive is that he left India under suspicious circumstances on 1 January 2018. However, there was no criminal case (against him) when he had left the country," Agarwal said.
"They cannot just say that he left the country under suspicious circumstances. They need to specify what those suspicions were. Also there is no material on record to say that he is refusing to return to India," he said.
He said that being a (jewellery) designer, Modi is a sort of an "artist" who cannot provide any financial information as desired by the ED.
"All my (Modi) finances were taken care of by my employees who are already in the custody of the investigating agency. I have no record or data. What are they going to investigate with me, as they have taken away all my source of information," Agarwal quoted Nirav Modi as saying in the letter.
Countering Agarwal's submission, ED counsel Hiten Venegaonkar said all these arguments have nothing to do with the Fugitive Act (FEO).
As per the investigating agencies, Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, in connivance with certain bank officials, allegedly cheated the Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the tune of Rs 14,000 crore through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).
These LoUs were allegedly issued in a fraudulent manner by a Mumbai branch of the PNB to the group of companies belonging to Modi since March 2011 till the case came to light.
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