Nirav Modi Extradition to Proceed After UK Legal Cases End, India Says
New Delhi–India said Tuesday that the extradition of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi from the United Kingdom will move forward once the remaining legal proceedings there are completed.
“As far as Nirav Modi is concerned, as we have informed you earlier, certain judicial proceedings are currently underway in the UK. Once those legal proceedings are concluded, the process of his extradition will move forward,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing in New Delhi.
“We are closely following those legal proceedings. The Government of India’s position remains firm that all fugitive offenders should be brought back to India and made to face the judicial process here,” he added.
In March, the High Court of Justice’s King’s Bench Division in London rejected Modi’s petition seeking to reopen proceedings related to his extradition order.
The case was argued by an advocate from the Crown Prosecution Service, with assistance from a Central Bureau of Investigation team that included investigating officers who traveled to London for the hearing.
Modi’s application to reopen the case cited a UK High Court ruling involving defense middleman Sanjay Bhandari.
Modi is wanted in India in connection with the Punjab National Bank fraud case, which involved the alleged use of fraudulent guarantees issued in the state-run lender’s name to secure overseas loans.
He left India in January 2018, shortly before the CBI began investigating the alleged fraud.
Modi was arrested in the United Kingdom in 2019, and British courts later approved his extradition to India. The courts accepted assurances regarding his treatment in Indian custody, found no legal barriers to extradition and dismissed his earlier appeals. (Source: IANS)
