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The fifth bail application of diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is one of the prime accused in the ₹13,578-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, has been turned down by a United Kingdom court. In April 2021, the Secretary of State of U.K.’s Home Department had ordered his extradition to India, but it has not been implemented so far.
Mr. Modi is currently languishing in privately run Thameside prison in Greenwich, where he was transferred in September last year from the Wandsworth jail. On April 16, he had moved yet another application before the Westminster Magistrate’s Court citing long incarceration. However, it was dismissed during the hearing on May 7. He continues to be in detention there, said an Enforcement Directorate (ED) official.
In the first week of January 2018, Mr. Modi had flown out of the country along with his family, days before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against him and others for allegedly cheating PNB of ₹6,498 crore. Subsequently, based on the CBI case, the ED also initiated a money laundering probe.
In due course, more instances of alleged fraud committed from 2011 to 2017 were detected and the amount went up. Among the accused were Mr. Modi, his associates, and his firms Diamond R US, Solar Export and Steller Diamond, besides his uncle Mehul Choksi. The alleged proceeds of crime were siphoned off and laundered to various overseas companies and countries.
Prosecution complaint
Based on its findings, the ED filed a prosecution complaint against him and 23 others, including his family members and companies. The competent court issued an open ended non-bailable warrant for his arrest. Accordingly, an extradition request was forwarded to the United Kingdom government. It was brought before the Westminster Magistrate’s court for the District judge.
Mr. Modi was arrested in the U.K. on March 19, 2019, and produced before a court that remanded him in judicial custody. “In the meantime, second and third dossiers for extradition were forwarded to the U.K., containing further evidence collected by the ED during the subsequent investigation,” said the official.
In February 25, 2021, the U.K. court allowed Mr. Modi’s extradition and the order was sent to the Secretary of State of U.K.’s Home Department for further decision. The Secretary signed the extradition order on April 15, 2021. Mr. Modi then approached another court that permitted him to move an appeal, which was turned down by the U.K. High Court in November 2022. Thereafter, he had approached the U.K. Supreme Court, which also dismissed his plea.
“However, his extradition to India is still pending. Multiple attempts to seek status update from the U.K. authorities have been unsuccessful, even as recently as in January 2024 during the India-U.K. Consular Dialogues. The only unilateral response provided is that they cannot divulge any information as legal confidential matters are under way, and it is to be noted that this is despite the extradition order being agreed by the competent court after due legal processes,” the official said.
