London High Court rejects Nirav Modi’s plea against extradition to India

New Delhi/London (The Uttam Hindu): Fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi suffered a major setback after the King’s Bench Division of the London High Court rejected his plea to reopen proceedings against his extradition to India.

The case was argued by a lawyer from the Crown Prosecution Service, assisted by a dedicated team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), including the investigating officer who travelled to London for the hearing.

The application to reopen the case was based on the Bhandari judgment, a decision by a UK High Court in the case of Sanjay Bhandari. In that case, the court had refused extradition to India on humanitarian grounds, citing the risk of torture.

Referring to this precedent, Nirav Modi argued that he too could face similar treatment if extradited to India. However, CBI officials strongly opposed this claim during the proceedings.

The UK High Court, in its ruling, stated that Nirav Modi’s application did not meet the threshold of “exceptional circumstances” required to reopen the case. The court found that the grounds presented were insufficient to justify reconsideration of the earlier decision.

Nirav Modi is wanted in India in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, where he is accused of obtaining overseas loans through fraudulent guarantees issued in the name of the state-owned lender.

He fled India in January 2018, shortly before the CBI initiated its investigation into the scam. After his arrest in the United Kingdom in 2019, British courts approved his extradition to India, accepting assurances regarding his treatment and finding no legal barriers. His previous appeals had also been dismissed.