India, April 6 -- The Bombay High Court has rejected a plea filed by Nitin Shahi, assistant finance officer of Gitanjali Gems Ltd, seeking to arraign Debjyoti Dutta, proprietor of Rishika Financials, as an accused in the Rs.3,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case in view of the incriminating material available against him.

In the order dated March 18, a single judge bench of Justice Shivkumar Dige held that the plea summon was "pre-mature" in nature and not maintainable at the pre-trial stage. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs.10,000 on Shahi for seeking to prolong the matter.

The case stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe launched in February 2018 into the alleged fraudulent issuance of 142 Letters of ...