New Delhi: The Supreme Court fixed a hearing on January 31 on an appeal by the CBI against the Bombay High Court allowing fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's brother-in-law Mainak Mehta to visit Hong Kong.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala was informed by senior advocate Amit Desai, who appeared for Mr Mehta, that the Letters Rogatory (LRs) to a Singapore court for obtaining evidence against Mehta have been issued.
Mr Desai said Mr Mehta wanted to travel abroad.
“The LRs have been issued as directed by this court. The matter pertained to my travel permission,” Mr Desai said.
The bench said Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, had to come back to it with the details of steps taken for issuance of the LRs.
Earlier, on December 2 last year, the ASG, appearing for the central probe agency, had said about the Union home ministry having granted it the sanction to move the special CBI court in Mumbai for issuance of LR to a Singapore court for obtaining evidence against Mehta.
LR is a document making a request through a foreign court to obtain evidence from a person living under the territorial jurisdiction of the requested court within the ambit of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and on the basis of reciprocity if no such treaty exists.
The CBI, through its Director, Banking Securities Fraud Branch, Mumbai, has challenged in the apex court the August 23, 2022 order of the Bombay High Court which had allowed Mehta to travel to Hong Kong and stay there for three months.
The CBI has been alleging Mehta received a large sum of money siphoned off in the PNB fraud which was transferred to his wife's bank account.
The counsel for Mehta had claimed he was cooperating with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and was made an approver in the money laundering case involving Modi, but he was being harassed by the CBI.
The CBI had, on the other hand, said Mehta is related to Neerav Modi, an accused in the multi-crore rupees Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, and he has not cooperated fully in the probe.
