Now, DRI to prosecute Nirav Modi in duty evasion case

Mumbai: Diamantaire Nirav Modi’s legal woes just got worse on Sunday with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) beginning its prosecution process against him in an alleged duty evasion case of 2015. The Director General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI) sanctioned the prosecution of Modi and his three firms for misdeclaration of value and quantity of the imported cut and polished diamonds, pearls, etc to the Customs. The same renders the liability for confiscation of such goods.

Another glaring illegality included the diversion of the duty-exempted goods to the domestic tariff area clandestinely by falsification of documentation and submission of such documents to the Customs. The third discrepancy found was violation of the rules of “authorised operations” of SEZ, causing loss of customs duty to the government, DRI officials said.

A case was registered in this regard in 2015, and based on the facts that have been revealed, action has now been initiated against Modi’s M/s Firestar Diamond International, M/s Firestar International Pvt Limited and M/s Radhashir Jewellery Company Limited.

“The DRI officials said that the action was initiated as per the guidelines of Central Board for Excise and Customs (CBEC), Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The prosecution has been initiated under the relevant sections of the Customs Act and section 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code,” said a DRI officer.

The DRI has forwarded the draft complaint along with relied documents to the jurisdictional commissionerate in Surat for filing it in the appropriate court of law. The officials said that upon submission of the documents, the trial would begin soon.