As per reports, the Supreme Court rejected the plea (PIL), filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, seeking special investigation team (SIT) probe into the Nirav Modi multi-crore scam after taking serious note of personal allegations levelled against the Prime Minister and Finance Minister in the petition.
The PIL, filed by advocate M L Sharma, had alleged that no banks would release huge funds without the intervention of the political leadership.
SC bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, showing complete disgruntlement over the allegations made in the petition against the government said: “What kind of PILs are you filing. You read some newspaper report and straight away come to court.. and such reckless personal allegations against someone. These PILs are not PILs at all.” Opposing the petition, Attorney General K K Venugopal said it was a “Publicity Interest Litigation”. He alleged that various unfounded and baseless allegations have been levelled against the two top government leaders.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices D Y Chandrachud, and A M Khanwilkar also declared that since a chargesheet has already been filed in the matter it would not be proper for the court to intervene at this stage.
Later, the advocate’s plea of refiling the petition without mentioning the names of the top political functionaries was also dismissed by the Supreme court bench.
The Interpol, earlier this week had issued a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, his brother Neeshal Modi and close aide Parab Subhash Shankar in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam worth Rs 13,578 crores.
Nirav Modi has reportedly left the country earlier in 2018 before the Punjab National Bank disclosed the news of the mega loan fraud. Modi and his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi are both wanted by CBI and ED in India under non-bailable warrants. Their properties in India have been attached and the CBI has sought legal sanction to attach his overseas properties too. Many business associates and high-level staffers of the two business houses have been arrested by the CBI in connection to the loan fraud and several bank officials have also been held for helping the Diamond tycoons in executing the fraud.
The opposition perpetually predisposed to bushwhack the government managed to twist and concoct a sensational conspiracy theory involving absconding diamond merchant Nirav Modi and the Income Tax department which was later refuted by the IT department. It remains to be seen whether the IT department would take some legal action against those who spread the allegation which it describes as false and misdirected.
Whether the IT department reacts or not, people at this point are left to wonder, how is it that every member of the opposition possesses a memory like a sieve. Before blowing the whistle at the government they should for once be counting the skeleton’s hidden up their closet.
Soon after the news of the fraud, which incidentally was perpetrated since 2011 broke, the Congress party decided to desperately link it to Narendra Modi by claiming that Nirav Modi met the PM in the Davos economic summit this year. Very soon, the table turned and much to their embarrassment it was reported that the former Finance secretary Rajiv Takru, working under the erstwhile UPA government had tried to “silence” the PNB whistleblower in 2013. Besides this, it had also been alleged that Finance Minister P Chidambaram himself had signed the whistleblower’s termination letter.
