Big blow to fugitive businessman Nirav Modi from London High Court, petition against extradition to India rejected

New Delhi, 26 February. Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi suffered a major setback when the King’s Bench Division of the London-based High Court rejected his plea to resume proceedings against his extradition order to India. The case was prosecuted by Crown Prosecution Service counsel, assisted by a dedicated team from the Central Bureau of Investigation, including investigating officers who traveled to London to assist at the hearing.

The application to reopen the case was filed on the basis of the Bhandari judgment, a judgment delivered by a UK High Court in the case of defendant middleman Sanjay Bhandari. In that case, Bhandari had argued that he could face torture if extradited to India, and the court had rejected his extradition on humanitarian grounds. Citing this example, Nirav Modi argued that if he was sent back to India, he would also have to face torture. However, CBI officials presented arguments refuting this claim during the proceedings.

Britain’s High Court, while giving its verdict, found that the petition filed by Nirav Modi does not meet the test of extraordinary circumstances required to reopen the case. The Court said that the grounds presented were not sufficient and hence it would not be appropriate to reconsider the earlier decision. Nirav Modi is wanted in India in connection with the Punjab National Bank fraud case, in which he is accused of allegedly obtaining foreign loans using fake guarantees issued in the name of the state-run lender.

He left India in January 2018, shortly before the CBI began investigating the scam. His extradition to India was approved by British courts following his arrest in the United Kingdom in 2019. The courts considering the case accepted the assurances given regarding his treatment in India and found no legal obstacles to his extradition, resulting in his previous appeals being dismissed.