Punjab National Bank a victim, can't be clubbed with Mehul Choksi's companies: CBI
The CBI has opposed a plea seeking to make Punjab National Bank (PNB) an accused in the multi-crore Gitanjali Group fraud case involving diamond merchant Mehul Choksi. The central agency said that the two "cannot be clubbed and measured with the same yardstick".Alleging that the petition was filed with "ulterior motives," the central probe agency asserted that while the bank is a victim in the scam, the Gitanjali Group was the beneficiary of the fraudulent transactions.advertisementNitin Shahi, assistant finance officer of Gitanjali Gems and co-accused in the case, who filed the petition through lawyers Yash Agrawal and Jasmin Purani, had argued that the bank should be held equally accountable, citing PNB's own internal investigation report that allegedly acknowledged oversight of discrepancies.
His petition, which challenged an earlier Special Court order that rejected his request, said that 'PNB has conveniently shifted the blame on its employees in order to save its skin,' and accused the bank of earning commissions from the disputed transactions.The CBI, however, argued that the plea had been filed with "an ulterior motive to take the trial in a different direction through which he and his masterminds benefit and thereby cause miscarriage of justice.""It is deceitful on the part of the accused to prod the Court to make the accused a victim," the agency said.advertisementThe petitioner pointed to financial transactions authorised by Gokulnath Shetty, a retired deputy manager of PNB at the Brady House branch, the epicentre of the scam. He claimed Shetty debited a total of Rs 2.28 crore to Gitanjali Exports Corporation Ltd.'s account as arranger fees between 2015 and 2018.The CBI clarified that several PNB employees, both senior and junior, have already been charge-sheeted for their role in the conspiracy in cheating the bank whereas the employees or Senior Management of Gitanjali Group of Companies have been charge-sheeted as they had conspired with themselves and with the accused bank official and defrauded.The agency emphasised that this does not make the institution itself complicit. 'Gitanjali Group of Companies is the beneficiary of the transactions whereas PNB is a victim who lost money,' it stated. The fraud has caused PNB a wrongful loss of Rs 7,080.86 crore, according to the agency.The matter, along with another plea filed by Mehul Choksi seeking cancellation of a Non-Bailable Warrant against him, is scheduled to be heard by Justice Shivkumar Dige on June 16.Tune InMust Watch
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