New Delhi: The Supreme Court told the CBI on Monday it cannot stop Mainak Mehta, the brother-in-law of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is an accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, to travel abroad without any "sold material".
A bench of justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to come up with some "solid material" in its plea challenging the Bombay High Court verdict of August 23, by which Mehta was allowed to travel to Hong Kong and stay there for three months.
Appearing for Mehta, senior advocate Amit Desai said the court granted him pardon as due to his efforts, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was able to bring back more than Rs 500 crore back to the country.
"I was not directly involved in the fraud case and there is no evidence contrary to this on record. It just so happens that my wife is the sister of Nirav Modi. I have been cooperating with the ED all through the investigation, due to which the agency has not opposed my pardon. But now, the CBI wants me not to be allowed to go abroad," he said.
The bench asked Desai what is the guarantee that Mehta will come back to India, if allowed to go abroad.
He said, "My home is in Mumbai. My parents are staying here. I have my entire family in Mumbai. Even my sister and her family are here. I cannot afford not coming back to India." The bench asked advocate Aakansha Kaul, who appeared for the CBI in the matter, about the federal probe agency's stance, to which she said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta or any other senior law officer will argue the matter.
The court then asked her to argue as it would not adjourn the matter unless required.
Kaul said, "The pardon granted by the court was subject to a full disclosure made by him and he has not made a full disclosure." The bench said, "You are not appearing for the ED. The CBI cannot say that he has not made a full disclosure. The court has granted pardon to him and we cannot restrict a person from going abroad without any solid material." Desai said due to Mehta's cooperation, the ED has managed to bring more than Rs 500 crore back to the country and his client is still cooperating with the probe agencies.
"I have not been named as an accused in the case. I have written to the CBI to start the inquiry against me but no positive response has been received," he said.
The bench said it will take up the matter on Tuesday and pass orders on the CBI's plea.
On August 23, the high court had dismissed the CBI's plea against the order of a special court dealing with cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), allowing Mehta to travel to Hong Kong.
The CBI had sought that the PMLA court order be stayed.
The agency had submitted in the high court that Mehta was not named as an accused in the case and his role in the PNB scam was yet to be ascertained and for that, he needed to be interrogated.
It had claimed that Mehta had received a large sum of the siphoned amount from the PNB fraud and it was transferred to his wife's account, which needs to be probed.
The PMLA court had, in June, allowed Mehta to travel abroad. It had earlier pardoned him after Mehta turned an approver in the case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)