Nirav Modi’s brother-in-law stopped at immigration despite court nod to travel

The court will be deciding on the application on Tuesday.

On June 16, a special court had allowed Mehta to travel abroad. On the next day, Mehta was stopped at the airport by an immigration officer, who said that the LOC issued by the CBI was in place and hence he cannot travel.

Mehta, who was named as an accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Punjab National Bank alleged fraud case along with Modi, had last year turned approver in the case. Mehta and his wife Purvi had undertaken to make full disclosure as prosecution witnesses in the case. Mehta returned to India last year after he was made an approver. Recently, Mehta sought to travel to his residence in Hong Kong. The ED gave its go-ahead but the CBI had opposed his plea. Mehta is not an accused in the CBI case.

On Monday, lawyer Shreeram Shrisat representing the immigration bureau said that the agency had stopped Mehta based on the LOC as it was not yet withdrawn. He said that when officials of the bureau wrote to the CBI, they had informed them that Mehta cannot be allowed to leave India. The lawyer also submitted that since the LOC was issued by the CBI, the agency would have to inform the immigration that it has been withdrawn.

Senior counsel Amit Desai representing Mehta said that this was contempt by the CBI of the court’s order. “He (Mehta) informed the CBI of the court’s order, and his itinerary when travelling was given to the CBI. He has not received any communication from the CBI preventing him from travelling. The court has allowed him to travel, why should it then be disregarded? The CBI has not filed any appeal but this is like indirectly setting aside the order,” Desai submitted before the court.

He added that last week, Mehta had booked a hotel in Hong Kong for institutional quarantine as per Covid-19 rules in the country and booked flight tickets as well which had gone to waste. Desai said that Mehta only wanted to visit London to attend the convocation ceremony of his daughter, which is an important day in his child’s life. He also said that Mehta was ready to undertake to return to India from London if the CBI required him to cooperate with the probe.

Mehta’s application sought directions to allow him to travel as the court had permitted him.

The court said that the LOC was suspended as per the court’s order and that will supersede the order of the CBI to issue the LOC.