Photos, papers show Modi govt not being truthful in Nirav Modi-PNB case

Are senior union ministers, who have come out in defence of the Centre, issuing misleading statements in the Nirav Modi money laundering case? The communication between the PMO and ROC (registrar of Companies) seems to prove that.

The story of Nirav Modi’s loot can be understood by the communication between whistleblower SV Hari Prasad, who had sent information on this scam to the PMO in July 2016. He had complained about Gitanjali Gems and its MD Mehul Choksi, the uncle and business partner of Nirav Modi. Moreover, Nirav Modi’s photos at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in late January with the prime minister in the same frame, were no coincidence but were taken following an already fixed schedule.

“Sir, the PMO has sent you a complaint filed by me. Please act immediately on this, because if it is delayed then the accused will flee the country like Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher. Please respond as soon as possible.” SV Hari Prasad had emailed this letter to the public grievance officer of the Registrar of Companies (ROC) on July 29, 2016. In this email, Hari Prasad had given reference of the complaint sent by PMO to ROC, in which it was clearly mentioned that the PMO received SV Hari Prasad’s complaint on July 26 and sent it to ROC for further action.

But nothing came out of it. And the fears conveyed by Hari Prasad proved to be true. According to Hari Prasad, the PMO had sent the letter to ROC as a mere formality and then informed ROC that the matter has been resolved. Hari Prasad was neither asked to provide any other information regarding the case, nor was ROC informed what action was taken in the case.

Union ministers are now rushing to clarify on behalf of the government that they had no information about Nirav Modi’s fraudulent activities and Nirav Modi’s presence in the group photo with Prime Minister Modi during the WEF meet in Davos was mere coincidence, and he was officially not a part of the government’s delegation to Davos. But before the meet in Davos, a report by news agency PTI dated January 14 mentioned Nirav Modi’s name clearly in the list of 100 industrialists and corporate leaders who Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would take along with him to Davos.

Not only this, the picture of Nirav Modi with Prime Minster Modi which has gone viral was actually released by the Ministry of External Affairs. Another photo taken at Davos, which shows Nirav Modi standing just behind the PM (see top of the article) makes it clear that the prime minister had, in fact, interacted with all the people present on the occasion.

How did SV Hari Prasad sense that a huge scam was going on? Talking to TV channels and newspaper reporters, Hari Prasad said, “I had made a business deal with Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in 2012. The deal was about taking a franchise of Nirav Modi brand. I invested about ₹10 crores and in exchange, the Nirav Modi company had to supply goods worth ₹25 crore. But when I did not receive anything even a year after the investment, I tried getting in touch with Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. But both of them refused to meet me.”

For two years Hari Prasad kept trying to recover his money, but it was no use. Finally, Hari Prasad registered a complaint in Bengaluru police station. But here also nothing happened. He again filed a complaint, but it was no use. After that Hari Prasad started digging into the balance sheets of Nirav Modi’s companies and then found out that there was a huge scam going on.

Hari Prasad then sent a complaint to the CBI. But after being disappointed with the CBI response, he sent the details of the case to the PMO. The PMO acknowledged the receipt of his complaint and sent it to ROC for further action. And ROC too closed the matter without taking any action or even asking Hari Prasad for any details regarding the case.

It is important to note here that the Prime Minister himself is in charge of the department CBI works under, and ROC works under the Finance Ministry. Although it is the responsibility of investigative agencies to decide under which sections this case could be made, the country’s law minister holds the responsibility of a case which is legally very strong and significant. Besides, because it was a matter related to business, the commerce minister was also responsible in this case. Nirmala Sitharaman was the commerce minister at that time and now holds the charge of defence ministry. Interacting with some TV channels, Nirmala Sitharaman said this scam was going on since 2011 and at that time the UPA government was in power. But the fact remains, the list of fraudulent activities which has been handed over to CBI by Punjab National Bank consists of the cases of January-February 2017. The dates can be seen clearly below:

The list handed over by PNB clearly says these frauds took place in 2017 and the PNB owed this entire amount by January 2018.