Congress always tried to save Nirav Modi, now its member is defending him in court: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday accused the Congress of trying to shield Nirav Modi and alleged that a member of the party, who is also a retired judge, is now defending him in the London court where the extradition trial is being conducted.

"Congress has always tried to save Nirav Modi or Mehul Choksi. Now that he (Nirav Modi) has been arrested and extradition proceedings against him are underway, a Congress member who is a retired judge himself (Abhay Thipsay), is defending him in the court," Prasad said at a press conference, held through video conferencing, here.

Showing a photo of Thipsay on the day he joined the Congress, in which senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot, among others were present, Prasad claimed he was a high profile member of the party.

He further alleged, "During P Chidambaram's tenure as the Finance Minister in the UPA government, the compes of Mehul Choksi (the uncle of Nirav Modi) were given many profits."

"There are so much suspicious circumstances surrounding the situation that based on them we can conclude that the Congress party is trying to save and bail out Nirav Modi," he said.

Earlier yesterday retired High Court Justice Abhay Mahadeo Thipsay was called on to testify on the legal basis upon which the Indian government has requested Modi's extradition to India to face charges at the Westminster Magistrate's Court in Central London.

At the heart of that request is that Modi and compes controlled by him had deceived PNB to issue lines of credit -- called Letters of Understanding (LOU) -- to finance the expansion of his company.

Justice Thipsay, however, dismissed the charge. He also questioned the confessions and witness statements compiled against Modi, including the manner in which they were obtained and their very admissibility.

( With inputs from ANI )