Nirav declared a ‘proclaimed absconder’ by Gujarat court Rs520m

mumbai — A Gujarat court on Thursday declared fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi as a “proclaimed absconder” in a Rs520 million customs duty evasion case filed in March and ordered him to appear in court on November 15.

A public notification issued to various Maharashtra and Gujarat newspapers, and sent to government and police departments, referred to Nirav Modi as a proclaimed absconder under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code that could make it difficult for him to secure an anticipatory bail.

In Surat, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) B.H. Kapadia accepting an August 8 plea by the Customs Department asked the diamantaire, who is also the prime accused in the Rs135 billion Punjab National Bank fraud case, to appear before the court next Thursday.

Deputy Customs Commissioner R.K. Tiwary had filed the August petition against Nirav Modi and his firms — Firestar Diamond International Pvt Ltd, Firestar International Pvt Ltd, and Radashir Jewellery Co Pvt Ltd — that involved a dispute over “huge tax amount”.ww

The diamond merchant and his firms had imported high-value rough and unpolished diamonds around 2014 and taken advantage of a government scheme allowing waiver of import duties if the raw materials were intended for export after processing in the Surat Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

However, after cutting and polishing, the firms allegedly sold those high-value stones worth around Rs9 billion in the domestic markets and evaded customs duties of around Rs520 million, as detected by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Mumbai. —

Customs duty evasion case in which he was declared absconder