NiMo’s lawyer challenges ED’s NBW application

Mumbai: Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s lawyer on Wednesday challenged the jurisdiction of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court to hear application filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for issuance of non-bailable warrant (NBW) against his client. According to Modi’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, the ED has not filed a formal complaint against Modi and since there is no formal complaint before the court, it has no jurisdiction to issue NBW.

Mr Aggarwal also argued on his locus standi (the right to be heard by the court), saying as per Supreme Court guidelines, he should be heard, and contended that the court should not issue NBW against Modi without hearing him. The court has fixed March 3 to file the application.

Mr Aggarwal argued before special PMLA judge S.M. Azmi that the ED is seeking issuance of warrant against Modi on the ground that he did not appear before the agency despite sending three summons; however, according to the lawyer, warrant cannot be issued for non-appearance on summons issued by the ED.

He also argued that it is not the case that his client was avoiding the agency. He pointed out that he had responded to all the three summonses through e-mails that the agency has received.

The court on Tuesday had asked the lawyer to first prove his locus and after that only the court will allow him to argue on behalf of Modi.

Arguing on the point of locus, Mr Aggarwal said that if the court proceeds to pass any order, Modi’s rights would be affected and his liberty is at stake.