Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi asked to reply to ED notice

Mumbai: A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Wednesday issued notices to diamantaire Nirav Modi and his  businessman Mehul Choksi asking them to file reply on the application filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to declare them ‘fugitive economic offenders’ under the recently promulgated the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.

The special PMLA court judge, S.M. Azmi, issued a notice to both the beleaguered jewellers in the presence of special counsels Hiten Venegaonkar and A. Naqvi asking both the accused to file their reply by next month. In July, the ED, had filed two separate applications against absconding accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud case seeking issuance of notices to them under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance and declaring them as fugitives. It had also requested the court to order the confiscation of their movable and immovable properties, which, according to the probe agency, are proceeds of crime.