On Wednesday, the High Court of Bombay refused to stay the auction of fifteen paintings, seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), belonging to fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi scheduled to take place tomorrow.
A bench headed by acting Chief Justice BP Dharmadhikari refused to pass any interim order on the matter & observed that “there is no justification about the delay in filing this petition so we are not inclined to give any interim order”.
The HC, while passing the order on the plea filed by Rohin Modi who is the son of Nirav Modi, also made a provision that the proceeds of the auction be kept in a national bank & the receipt of the same be submitted to the Court.
Senior Lawyer Amit Desai, appearing for Rohin Modi, alleged the attached paintings belong to Rohin Trust, in which he is a beneficiary, & that he wasn’t informed about the auction adding that there is no proof that these paintings were part of any money laundering activities.
He also said that these items weren’t part of the attached items filed with the original charge-sheet.
Additional Solicitors General Anil Singh, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, argued that these items were part of the attached items & a corrigendum was issued about the attached items which are part of the second charge-sheet.
Additional Solicitors General also said that Rohin Trust has 3 members, including both his parents, who are accused in the case & added that at the time of registration of the case, Robin was a minor & became an adult only in May 2019.
Nirav Modi, the prime accused in USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, is currently lodged at Wandsworth prison in south-west London & is wanted for his alleged role in the Rs 13,570 crore loss caused to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) along with his uncle, Mehul Choksi.
Nirav, 48, was arrested in March last year by Scotland Yard in connection with the case. His 5-day extradition trial is due to begin on May 11.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that the Indian Govt has put all “resources on the ground to ensure early extradition” of Modi & Choksi.
Nirav Modi was declared a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act on Dec 5, 2019. The order on the confiscation of his properties is yet to be issued.
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