Overview
- The CBI told the special court on Thursday that its probe produced no incriminating material under the Prevention of Corruption Act against any Punjab National Bank public servant and sought to drop those corruption counts.
- A special CBI judge allowed the agency's plea and directed the registrar to transfer the FIR to a special CBI magistrate for further proceedings.
- The FIR arose from a complaint by PNB’s Mumbai zonal office alleging misuse of credit facilities worth ₹321.88 crore and circular transactions involving Nirav Modi‑linked partnership firms and Firestar group companies.
- The CBI said it will file a chargesheet only against private persons under IPC sections 120‑B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating), leaving bank officials off corruption charges in this FIR.
- This development does not affect separate CBI and ED probes into the larger LoU/LC fraud of over ₹13,000 crore in which Nirav Modi is jailed in London and Mehul Choksi faces extradition proceedings in Belgium, and it could change how prosecutors handle related cases.