TIMES NEWS NETWORK (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 27, 2020)

New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi on Wednesday moved Delhi High Court against screening of an upcoming Netflix series ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’ reportedly based on Indian tycoons who ran afoul of the law.

Fearing that he has also been dragged into the documentary, Choksi claims it will amount to trial by media and jeopardise his right to fair trial, as he is an accused in the multi-crore PNB scam.

Justice Navin Chawla orally asked the counsel for Netflix to consider granting pre-screening to Choksi and cut short the controversy, listing the matter for hearing on August 28.

Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems, and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500-crore PNB fraud case. ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’, which is scheduled to be released in India on September 2, is described on Netflix platform as “This investigative docu series explores the greed, fraud and corruption that built up — and ultimately brought down — India’s most infamous tycoons”. It takes a look at controversial cases of infamous businessmen Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Subrata Roy and Byrraju Ramalinga Raju.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, representing Choksi, sought postponement of the documentary’s release, arguing that his client saw the trailer and has been receiving phone calls from across the world asking him if he is part of the documentary and seeking comments.