NEW DELHI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has turned down the Supreme Court's request to submit the probe report in the country's biggest-ever bank fraud of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, orchestrated by billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi.
A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Friday asked the central government to submit the probe report in the case in a "sealed cover" to the court in the wake of a plea, prompting the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to raise an objection.
"Is there any justification for anyone to come to this court by filing a PIL (public interest litigation) and say the court should be informed about the status of investigation? There can't be a parallel inquiry and parallel monitoring by the courts," he told the court.
"Let the investigating agency be allowed to do its job," Venugopal added.
Indian authorities have already sought Interpol's help to track down Modi and and his uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi in connection with the bank fraud. India's External Affairs Ministry has also revoked their passports.
Modi is said to have defrauded Punjab National Bank, India's second largest state-run bank, of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, though he has said that he owed the bank only 775 million U.S. dollars, in a letter sent to the bank's management.
Indian investigators have so far arrested nearly 20 people, including some senior executives of companies owned by Modi and Choksi as well as high-ranking officials of state-owned Punjab National Bank, in the fraud probe.
However, they have not yet been able to arrest Modi and his uncle yet. The celebrity jeweller is said to have fled the country and was reportedly last seen in New York after his appearance at World Economic Forum in Davos as a member of the Indian delegation.