New Delhi: The prime accused in the Punjab National Bank scam, celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi, is going to be represented in court by an advocate used to high profile cases.
Advocate Vijay Aggarwal has represented a number of accused persons in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. He has represented former Orissa High Court judge, IM Quddussi, who had moved a Delhi court to seek a probe into the alleged leak of certain phone conversations.
After the Rs 11,000 crore fraud came to light, PNB filed a criminal complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Modi and others.
He and his family left the country earlier in January, according to Indian officials, and a call on Sunday to a corporate spokesperson for Modi went unanswered.
Aggarwal himself is not without his fair share of controversies. In 2011, he was under the scanner of the advocates' regulatory body for alleged "professional misconduct" and was slapped with a show-cause notice.
Aggarwal, at the time appearing for Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa, Vinod Goenka and others associated with them in 2G scam, was charged with violating the law which prohibit a practicing lawyer from indulging in two active professions.
The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) summoned Aggarwal on July 22, 2011, to explain as to how he could indulge in two professions - Chartered Accountancy and Advocacy - simultaneously.
Further in 2013, Aggarwal was expelled from the membership of New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA) and his chamber at Patiala House Courts complex was also sealed for his alleged abusive behaviour. Aggarwal had allegedly threatened a lawyer and also called “some bouncers in the court premises."
Later, the lawyer had said that "expulsion" was illegal and the NDBA president was "abusing his bar office position for the interest of his client and is dissuading me from discharging my professional duties".
This was a part of the allegation by the New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA). It was after this incident that a case of attempt to murder was registered against Aggarwal.
The matter was taken up to the Delhi high court. Challenging the NDBA's decision, Aggarwal moved the court saying, "Powers of sealing of chambers is within the exclusive domain of NDMC and cannot be sub-delegated to the private bodies like NDBA." Later, to the bar association's demand for an unconditional written apology to it and members, Aggarwal's counsel Aman Lekhi submitted that his client is ready for it.
After a CBI court had acquitted all the accused in the 2G scam case, the lawyer said, “The court said that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of its charge. Thus, all accused are acquitted.”
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