The bench led by Justice A M Khanwilkar was hearing a slew of petitions that challenged the wider scope of powers of the enforcement directorate (ED) for search, investigation, and attachment of proceeds of crime under the law.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who was appearing for the Centre told the bench that total proceeds of crimes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), amounted to Rs 67,000 crore, out of which Rs 18,000 crore was returned to banks in cases of Mallya, Modi and Choksi.
Liquor baron, Vijay Mallya, owes approximately Rs 10,000 crore to a dozen banks. He was declared a fugitive in 2019, under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
Diamantaire Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who is the owner of the Geetanjali Group together owe approximately Rs 14,000 crore to the Indian Banks. The fraud, which is otherwise known as Punjab and National scam, involves PNB which fraudulently issued ‘letters of undertaking’ to the firms owned by Modi and Choksi, allowing them to short-term loans from overseas banks branches to sellers.
(With inputs from IANS)
