'Farmers Commit Suicide While Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya Flee': SC Agrees to Hear PIL on Friday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Friday a PIL, which has sought direction to the central government to ensure Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam accused Nirav Modi is brought back to India within two months, apart from the issuance of fresh guidelines on grant of big loans.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra agreed to list the PIL by Vineet Dhanda after it was mentioned for urgent hearing. Advocate JP Dhanda mentioned the matter before the CJI.

Juxtaposing poor farmers' inability to repay agricultural loans with the recent Rs 11,300 crore PNB fraud, the PIL has sought intervention of the Supreme Court to protect the people's rights.

The petition has cited several instances where the farmers had to either commit suicide or face the wrath of the bank officials over their inability to pay back the loan.

On the other hand, Dhanda pointed out, the PNB scam, involving Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Chowksi, continued for six long years and the prime accused, along with his family, easily managed to leave the country just before the bubble burst.

Referring to previous instances involving Vijay Mallya, Ketan Parekh and Harshad Mehta, Dhanda's petition has contended that such big frauds cannot take place without connections in the corridors of power and wielding influences.

The petition maintained that PNB scam also demonstrates that the bank concerned and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have been completely negligent in performing their duties to upkeep purity of banking services, and their deficiency has led to mounting bad debts which people in the country have to shore up by paying taxes.

The PIL has made ministries of Finance and Law, RBI and PNB as parties to the case.

Dhanda has requested the court to direct the government to take all possible steps for getting Nirav Modi deported back within two months and speed up proceedings to recover the money.

The PIL further requested the court to order action against PNB top brass, besides coming out with fresh guidelines for issuance of loans with high amounts and a stringent process of recovery.

It has pleaded that the government should provide the complete list of borrowers of loan amounting to Rs 500 crore or more and the defaulters in this category.