The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday a plea for probe into the role of the top management of Punjab National Bank in the Rs 11,300 crore scam allegedly involving jeweller Nirav Modi and others.A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday agreed to hear the plea by lawyer Vineet Dhanda upon mention by lawyer J.P. Dhanda who sought an early hearing of the matter.Seeking the extradition of Nirav Modi, petitioner Vineet Dhanda has wondered how such alleged fraudster manage to enter the inner circle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and if there was a system by which such people could be prevented from getting close to the Prime Minister to protect his image. His referrence to the photo of Nirav Modi in the photo session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Davos.Describing Nirav Modi as the "kingpin" of the Rs 11,500 crore scam, the PIL says that "after doing fraud, the swindlers - all of them have gone to foreign countries".
Describing the PNB scam as the "biggest scam in the history of banking system in India", the PIL petitioner said: "It is a very shocking the way the swindlers have succeeded in siphoning of public money from the Punjab National Bank in connivance with the top management of the Bank." He also sought direction to the government to take steps for the extradition of Nirav Modi and the issuance of look-out notice against defaulters.The petitions also sought direction to the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India to frame guidelines for the grant of loans involving Rs 10 crore and above, and also for power to grant big loans be brought under the ambit of the Union Finance Ministry.The PIL petitioner also sought setting up of a committee to look into the bad debts cases and steps needed to be taken for their recovery.It has also sought the framing of rules for the recovery of loans from the defaulters within stipulated period including the attachment of their properties and their auction in open market.