Union Minister Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday accused the Congress of trying "its best to save" fugitive businessman Nirav Modi who faces extradition proceedings in a UK court.
Ravi Shankar Prasad cited the statement of a former high court judge, who is also a Congress member, in the arrested diamond merchant's defence to attack the opposition party.
Addressing the media through a video conference, senior BJP leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Abhay Thipsay, a former judge of Mumbai and Allahabad high courts, deposed as a defence witness in the case and claimed that the charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy against Modi will not stand up under Indian law.
Who is Abhay Tipsey and how is he related to Rahul Gandhi?
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While addressing media, Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that Thipsay had joined the Congress in 2018 and had met top party leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot and Ashok Chavan.
The "judge sahab" is not acting in his individual capacity but is working at the behest of the Congress, he claimed, adding that Thipsay is hardly a big name otherwise in legal circles.
Thipsay is a retired judge who has served in the Bombay and Allahabad high courts. Thipsay presided over Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case and Best Bakery massacre case related to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
An extradition request from the Indian government was certified by the UK Home Office in February last year before his arrest by Scotland Yard on March 19, 2019. The jeweller remains behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since then, failing to get bail despite repeated attempts.
According to the case against him, a number of PNB staff members conspired with Nirav Modi to ensure Letters of Understanding (LoUs) were issued to companies linked to him without ensuring that they were subject to the required credit checks, without recording the issuance of the LoUs and without charging the required commission upon the transactions. This resulted in a fraud amounting to nearly USD 2 billion.
(Inputs from Agencies)
