New Delhi, Jun 28: Mehul Choksi, one of the key accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) alleged fraud case, on Wednesday claimed threat to his life in India due to 'the recent trend of mob lynching'. Choksi cited 'mob lynching trend' while seeking cancellation of two non-bailable warrants issued against him in April and May. He cited 10 reasons for his non-appearance before the court in the PNB fraud case.

“It is most respectfully submitted that there have been various reported cases of mob lynching and one of the cases was in relation to an accused who was mob lynched while being inside a jail. This recent trend of mob lynching is growing and is attempting to giving justice on the road by the general public, and subsequently there is no prosecution because of non-identification of a particular individual is giving rise to the said tendency (sic),” his plea says.

Among other reasons cited by Choksi in his plea are his medical condition, revocation of his passport and “prejudice” of the investigating agencies. He said that due to ill-health, it would not be possible for him to travel and attend the court. He added, he is apprehensive of his safety in India, and said that he cannot even disclose his location to the court at this stage.

On April 8, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had issued Non-Bailable Warrants (NBW) against celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle and business partner, Mehul Choksi. The warrants were issued after a special CBI court in Mumbai allowed the same. The Punjab National Bank (PNB) detected a multi-crore scam, wherein Nirav Modi and Choksi had allegedly cheated the bank to the tune of Rs 114 billion, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.

Choksi in connivance with PNB's Mumbai-based Brady House branch officials managed to issue unauthorized LoUs aggregating to Rs 3,032.17 crore and FLCs aggregating to Rs 3,106.56 crore in the name of Gitanjali group and the funds so raised for payment of import bills have not been utilised for such purposes, said the ED statement in May.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 28, 2018 09:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).