Cong accuses govt of allowing Nirav, Choksi flee despite knowing their 'dirty dealings'

The Congress on Monday accused the Union government of not acting against fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi despite having information of their "dirty dealings".

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allowed the jewellers to flee the country.

Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are being pursued by central investigation agencies in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. The accused left India this January, a few weeks before the scam came to light.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were aware about dirty dealings amounting to Rs 26,306 crore of fraudsters Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi eight months prior to their flying abroad, but it (the government) did not act," Surjewala said at a press conference here.

Citing a 10,000-page report of the Income Tax department, he said it had finalised the report on June 8, 2017 but it was not shared with the Finance Ministry.

Surjewala claimed that the probe agencies of the Finance Ministry were aware of their scam since January 2015.

"This is the plain and simple reason why the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, Shri Sushil Chandra was given two extensions by the Modi government," he alleged.

He repeated the Congress charge that the Finance Minister's daughter and son-in-law, both lawyers, received a retainership from Choksi.

However, Jaitley's son-in-law has issued a statement stating that his law firm had returned the retainership the moment they came to know that the company was involved in a scam.