PNB case: Nirav Modi’s brother-in-law pardoned by CBI court, to turn approver

A special CBI court has granted pardon to Maiank Mehta, brother-in-law of fugitive businessman Nirav Modi, in the sprawling Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, marking him as an approver in the investigation. The court’s order, issued on 22 September, requires Mehta to make a “full and true disclosure of the whole of the circumstances within knowledge relative to offence and every other person concerned”.

Mehta, a British citizen and longtime resident of Hong Kong, is implicated under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), and 409 (criminal breach of trust), in addition to charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He had already obtained pardons in corresponding money laundering cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which are tied to the same predicate offences.

Mehta argued that he had voluntarily returned to India in September 2021 to cooperate. His counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai, told the court that Mehta has already assisted in multiple aspects of the prosecution’s case.

The public prosecutor did not oppose the plea, acknowledging that pardons were permitted in related PMLA cases. The court directed that steps be taken to ensure Mehta’s presence in India for further proceedings, ordering “the prosecution shall take necessary steps to facilitate the approach of the accused… to take part in the proceeding as soon as may be”.

At the heart of the PNB scam is the alleged misuse of letters of undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs). Investigators claim that Modi, Mehul Choksi (his maternal uncle), and their associates colluded with PNB officials at the Brady House branch in Mumbai to fraudulently obtain credit from foreign banks, without proper collateral or oversight. The total alleged loss to PNB and its consortium of banks is estimated in excess of Rs 13,000-13,500 crore.

Choksi is presently in Belgium, facing extradition proceedings, while Modi is remanded in the UK's Wandsworth prison contesting his extradition to India.

Investigators and banks have made gradual progress in attaching and monetising assets belonging to the accused. As per media reports, a special court recently cleared the release of Rs 66.33 crore in assets linked to Modi and his sister Purvi Modi, to PNB for possible auction and recovery of dues. These assets include jewellery, coins, watches, cash seized from Modi’s Mumbai residence, and a flat registered in Purvi Modi’s name.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was directed to hand over assets valued around Rs 60 crore to PNB, comprising items such as jewellery, cash, and a flat in Mumbai.

In the Choksi case, assets worth over Rs 125 crore have been returned to the liquidator of Gitanjali Gems and victims of the money-laundering case. Further the ED has frozen additional assets totalling roughly Rs 94.52 crore, including luxury cars, mutual funds, and shares linked to the accused.

Thus, while the total recovery is still a fraction of the alleged Rs 13,000-plus crore fraud, these moves represent incremental traction in what has been a slow, complex process of international asset tracing, litigation, and enforcement.

With PTI inputs