JOIN USNirav will not get justice in India: Former Supreme Court judge Katju to tesify in UK court
Former Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju will testify in favour of Nirav Modi, the absconding offender, in a court in United Kingdom and will inform it that Modi will not get a fair trial in India.
Nirav Modi is the main suspect in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud worth Rs 13,000 crore and money-laundering case.
"I will be deposing on Friday (through video conferencing) in a UK court for Nirav Modi," he told The Economic Times. "But I would not be commenting on the merits of the case and will only say that he (Nirav) will not get justice in India," he added.
Corroborating a statement released by Modi's lawyers on the polictical influence on the Indian judiciary, the former chairman of Press Council of India, said that under political influence, crucial matters were being allotted to "handpicked" benches of judges who favour the ruling party.
Questioning how a law minister can declare Nirav Modi "guilty" he said, "Only a court of law can do that. But the law minister is pronouncing judgements."
A senior government official replied to Katju's testimony saying that it will not impact Modi's extradition trial. "We have sufficient incriminating evidence to establish a fit case for Nirav Modi's extradition," he said. "A similar stunt was tried by another fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya by procuring a so-called expert witness by a retired high court judge but the same was trashed by the London court," he added.