The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday informed the Delhi High Court that the jewellery stock of Gitanjali Gems was seized as it was under direct control of jeweller Mehul Choksi, who has refused to join the investigation into the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case and is involved in money laundering, reported PTI.

Justices S Muralidhar and IS Mehta were hearing a plea by Choksi’s firm challenging the alleged illegal seizure of documents and articles by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in connection with the PNB scam.

The Enforcement Directorate told the High Court that the “affidavits filed by Gitanjali Gems in Delhi High court are false and misleading”, according to ANI. “The company cleverly veils any reference to Mehul Choksi, who left India in the twilight of the scam coming to the notice of the law enforcement agencies.”

The ED has registered a money laundering case against jeweller Nirav Modi, his firms and others on the basis of a First Information Report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, reported PTI.

Choksi’s interim protection from arrest withdrawn

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court also withdrew the interim protection from arrest and other coercive action it had granted to Choksi in April last year, reported PTI. The order by Justice Mukta Gupta came after the police told the court that Choksi was not cooperating with the investigation as he was not available at any of the addresses given on his behalf earlier.

Choksi was granted interim protection from arrest in connection with a 2016 FIR lodged by the owner of Gitanjali Gems franchise store in West Delhi. The FIR alleged that Vaibhav Khuraniya and his colleague Deepak Bansal had entered into an agreement with Gitanjali Gems and Choksi, who had assured them of stocks worth Rs 3 crore in the form of diamond jewellery on a security deposit of Rs 1.5 crore. However, they said they had only been given third-grade diamonds and other items, worth around Rs 50 lakh-Rs 70 lakh.