Infamous diamond merchant Mehul Choksi has once again approached the Delhi High Court seeking a review of the judgment which dismissed his plea asking for a pre-screening of Netflix series Bad Boy Billionaires. A single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had dismissed the writ petition on Friday and Choksi has asked for a division bench to hear his plea.
In his plea, Choksi has said that the Netflix series Bad Boy Billionaires set to release on September 2 delves into the notorious lives of Vijay Mallya, Subrata Roy, Nirav Modi, and Ramalinga Raju, and may hamper the investigation into the 2 million dollar Punjab National Bank scam, in which he is also an accused.
Mehul Choksi’s lawyer had earlier moved the High Court asking that he be shown a preview of the docu-series before it is released, as it may influence and affect the ongoing probe into the PNB fraud, in which Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have been accused.
His plea was, however, dismissed by Justice Naveen Chawla who said that there are no regulations to control the content on the over-the-top (OTT) media services. The Delhi High Court had asked him to approach an appropriate forum or file a civil suit in the matter.
Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems, and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.
Choksi left the country last year and was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda.
The documentary, scheduled for release in India on September 2, is promoted by Netflix as: “This investigative docuseries explores the greed, fraud and corruption that built up - and ultimately brought down - India's most infamous tycoons.”
The plea for pre-screening of the documentary was vehemently opposed by Netflix saying it was wholly misconceived and mischievous petition.
Senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Dayan Krishnan, representing Netflix Inc and Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP, argued that Choksi was a declared absconder and fugitive and allowing pre-screening to him will amount to freezing of free speech .
Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal contended that he has a right to fair trial which should not be prejudiced with the release of the documentary and vehemently objected to the submission of Netflix lawyer that Choksi was a fugitive.