Vipul Chitalia, 'Mastermind' Accused in PNB Fraud Case, Granted Bail by HC

The Central Bureau of Investigation claimed that Chitalia was a "mastermind" who reported directly to Mehul Choksi.

The Rs 12,636-crore fraud was allegedly perpetrated by billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

(Photo: The Quint)

Vipul Chitalia, the former vice president of Gitanjali Group of Companies and an accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday, 11 August.

In March 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Chitalia and claimed that he was a "mastermind" who reported directly to diamond trader Mehul Choksi.

Chitalia was allegedly instrumental in preparing applications for putting through the fradulent transactions of the LoUs (Letters of Undertaking) and FLCs (Foreign Letters of Credit). He was also privy to the modalities for putting through the transactions, the agency had noted.

The Rs 12,636-crore fraud was allegedly perpetrated by billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems.

Chitalia allegedly escaped to Dubai with Mehul Choksi in the first week of January 2018 and returned to India where he was detained and arrested on 6 March 2018.

What Happened at the Bail Hearing?

A single-judge bench of Justice Bharati H Dangre on Thursday allowed the bail application of Chitalia, who was represented by advocate Vijay Aggarwal. Chitalia was booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, pertaining to cheating, fraud, and criminal conspiracy, among others. A special court had earlier rejected his bail.

While seeking bail, Aggarwal cited Chitalia's prolonged custody period and stated that the CBI still hadn’t completed its investigation and charges were yet to be framed.

Special Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegavkar for the CBI opposed the plea and said that the applicant was in the know of the fraud since the beginning as he was one of the two authorised signatories of the group.

The CBI had recently filed a 47-thousand-page supplementary charge sheet and the probe is still in progress.

The court had sought a response from the investigating officer “as to why it was taking so long for completion of investigation and despite one supplementary charge sheet being filed, why he is desirous of filing a further charge sheet.”