CBI says PNB is victim of Nirav Modi, Choksi's fraud

Mumbai: The CBI has filed a reply saying that the Punjab National Bank (PNB) has suffered a loss of crores of rupees and hence, cannot be made an accused in the case.

The reply has been filed to an application of Nitin Shahi, an accused in the PNB scam, demanding that PNB be arraigned as an additional accused in the PNB case at a relevant stage of the trial.

The CBI, in its reply filed before special CBI Judge J.C. Jagdale, has said that PNB was a victim of the alleged fraud committed by fugitive jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, and not a beneficiary.

Shahi, a former assistant finance manager with Choksi's Gitanjali Group, had filed an application before the CBI court contending that PNB too should be made an accused in the case.

Shahi’s lawyer had argued before the court that the nationalised bank earned commission from the alleged fraudulent transactions and could not play the victim card and feign ignorance now.

He had further contended that when top-level officials of the Gitanjali Group as well as PNB were made the accused, why was the bank itself treated as a victim.

He had termed the CBI treating PNB as a victim as “strange and discriminatory”. Shahi has already been released on bail.

In its reply, the CBI said that the bank had suffered a loss of a whopping Rs 7,080 crore in the transactions related to the Gitanjali Group alone. “Gitanjali Group is a beneficiary of the transactions, while PNB is a victim, which lost money,” read the reply filed by the CBI.

The judge has posted this application for hearing next week.