Nirav Modi to be extradited to India; Arthur Road Jail fit for him, rules UK court
Judge says mental health concerns as cited by Nirav Modi are not unusual in a man in his circumstances; says he won t be denied justice if he s extradited to India
BusinessToday.In | February 25, 2021 | Updated 17:06 IST
Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi
Dismissing fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi s mental health concerns, UK extradition and district judge Samuel Goozee on Thursday ruled that Modi will be extradited to India to stand trial. He said Modi has a case to answer for in India, and that Barrack 12 at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai is fit for him. The judge said, mental health concerns as cited by Modi were not unusual in a man in his circumstances. Nirav Modi conspired to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses and he won t be denied justice if he s extradited to India, the UK judge ruled.
Updated Feb 25, 2021 | 21:10 IST
A UK court ruled that Nirav Modi could be extradited to India after dismissing arguments like his mental health worsening during the pandemic India to seek early extradition of Nirav Modi from UK
New Delhi: The government will liaise with the UK authorities for early extradition of Nirav Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday, hours after a British court rejected the fugitive businessman s plea against being extradited to India.
The diamantaire, wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, lost his legal battle against extradition on all grounds as District Judge Samuel Goozee also concluded that there are no human rights concerns that his medical needs would not be addressed as per several Indian government assurances.
Updated Feb 05, 2021 | 07:01 IST
Nirav Modi, 49, is presently in a London jail after his arrest there in 2019, and the legal process to extradite him to India on money laundering charges is underway. Fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi. (File photo)
Mumbai: Fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi s sister and her husband on Thursday approached a court here seeking cancellation of non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against them in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
Purvi Modi, Nirav Modi s younger sister, is a Belgian national while her husband Maiank Mehta is a British citizen.
Both were earlier named as accused in the case, but last month the PMLA court here accepted their plea for turning approver (prosecution witness) in the case and getting pardon.
The key accused in the case were jeweller and designer Nirav Modi, his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi, and other relatives and some PNB employees. Nirav Modi and his relatives escaped India in early 2018, days before the news of the scam became public. PNB scam has been dubbed as the biggest fraud in India s banking history. Bankers used fake Letters of Undertakings (LoUs) at PNB s Brady House branch in Fort, Mumbai. The LoUs were opened in favour of branches of Indian banks for import of pearls for a period of one year, for which Reserve Bank of India guidelines lay out a total time period of 90 days from the date of shipment.