PNB fraud: Centre needs free hand to probe scam, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The government must get a free hand to probe the over Rs 11,000 crore PNB fraud case, allegedly involving billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

The top court said it would step in only when agencies fail to carry out the investigation properly. The bench then fixed the PIL for hearing on March 16.

The Centre, represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal, vehemently opposed a PIL, seeking an independent probe and deportation of Nirav Modi, before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra saying “the inquiry started and the FIRs have been registered”.

“If the government does not do things that are required, then you (petitioner) can come. It is not that the government agencies are not acting,” the bench, also comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, said, adding that the government must have “a free hand” to probe the scam.

Lawyer Vineet Dhanda, who has filed the PIL, said that either notice be issued or a status report called from the Centre as “the whole country was watching that the government had not done anything” in the past in a similar case relating to Vijay Mallya.

“Speeches have no impact on the court. We will hear the legal issue and not the emotional aspect,” the bench said, adding “this is not the way you argue a petition. The purpose is to gain publicity.”

The court took note of the intervention by Dhanda when Venugopal was putting forth the stand, and said “I cannot say that anywhere in the world the Attorney General is stopped like this”. “These are publicity-oriented litigations,” the bench said, adding that the petitioner lawyer was “playing to the gallery”.