New Delhi, June 29: A Jaipur jeweller arrested for allegedly selling HCL chairman Shiv Nadar’s wife fake gems for Rs 23 crore was today granted bail for a security amount being touted as rare in cheating cases.

Govind Narain Johri, who was held last year after over a decade of supplying fakes to the Nadars, was asked to furnish a bond of Rs 1.5 crore.

Lawyers said the sum, probably tied to the scale of Johri’s fraud, set by a Delhi court was one of the highest in such cases. The amounts are usually within Rs 1 lakh. The offence carries a maximum punishment of seven years in jail.

The 50-year-old jeweller first came into contact with Nadar’s wife Kiran in 1999 and used to visit the baron’s home at the upscale New Friends Colony in Delhi.

He flaunted his orders from rich families in Delhi and Rajasthan royal families. “Narain had sold jewellery worth Rs 23 crore to the Nadars over 12 years,” said a police officer.

But in October last year, the couple learnt from an acquaintance that Johri dealt in fakes. The Nadars got two of his necklaces tested at a Delhi laboratory, which confirmed the stones in the ornaments were fake. The probe revealed he was involved in eight similar cases in Jaipur and Gwalior, the officer said.