In a first such order passed under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act 2018, a special court in Mumbai partly allowed a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for confiscation of properties owned by diamantaire Nirav Modi, an accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
Special judge V C Barde significantly exempted from confiscation properties that are secured to PNB and a consortium of banks either through mortgage, hypothecation or guarantee. The court, in its order, said the assets shall be attached by the ED under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act within one month.
Modi, currently lodged in a UK jail, was declared a fugitive economic offender in December last. He was arrested in London in March 2019. His extradition proceedings began in a UK court last month.
Under the FEO Act, once an accused is declared as a fugitive economic offender, his/her properties can stand confiscated directly to the central government. The ED had, in 2018, sought confiscation of Modi’s properties.
Among Modi’s properties permitted to be confiscated are his farmhouse and land worth over £4.2 million at Alibaug, a 52-crore windmill at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, various bank accounts, properties in the UK and UAE, and valuables seized during searches. The ED had annexed a list of properties, including vehicles, worth a total £140 million for confiscation.
Top among Modi’s assets excluded from confiscation “pursuant to a request made by the banks in whose favour these properties were secured” include the landmark Rhythm House at Kala Ghoda in south Mumbai valued at £3.2 million and a plush 5,000 sq ft triplex penthouse at Samudra Mahal in Worli with an open terrace along with two parking spaces and two flats valued at over £8 million.
