NEW DELHI: Mehul Choksi, an accused in the nearly USD two billion PNB scam, has filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court against the dismissal of his plea to conduct pre-screening of Netflix documentary, 'Bad Boy Billionaires'.
Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, representing Choksi, confirmed that an appeal has been filed against a single judge's August 28 decision dismissing the plea.
The appeal is listed for hearing on Tuesday before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan.
The single judge on August 28 had denied any relief to Choksi saying a writ petition for enforcement of a private right was not maintainable.
The high court had said his remedy lies in a civil suit and granted him the liberty to raise the issue in a civil suit.
Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems, and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) 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 before the single judge by Netflix which said the petition was wholly misconceived and mischievous.
In the proceedings before the single judge, Aggarwal had contended that Choksi has a right to fair trial which should not be prejudiced with the release of the documentary and had vehemently objected to the submission of Netflix lawyer that Choksi was a fugitive.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and central government standing counsel Ajay Digpaul, representing the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, had told the court that there is no statutory mandate to regulate or review Over The Top (OTT) content.
Opposing Choksi's claims, Netflix had told the court that there was no reference of any trial going on against him or he being related to any case allegedly involving Nirav Modi.
The plea before the single judge had also sought postponement of the documentary's release.
In the petition before the single judge, Choksi claimed he has been falsely accused of various crimes in India and is presently under investigation or standing trial by and before various authorities and/or courts.
"The petitioner is entitled in terms of Indian law, that is, Article 21 of the Constitution of India to a presumption of innocence and a free and fair trial. Reputation being a facet of a person's life, the petitioner is also entitled to a right to a reputation," it had said.