Nirav Extradition Gets Green Light

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday reiterated that fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi will be extradited from the United Kingdom (UK) to India once all the legal proceedings are concluded.

"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," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said while addressing media queries at a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"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, King’s Bench Division in London, rejected Nirav Modi’s petition seeking to reopen proceedings against his extradition order to India.

The case was argued by the Crown Prosecution Service advocate, assisted by a dedicated team from the Central Bureau of Investigation, which included investigating officers who had travelled to London to support the hearing.

The application to reopen the case was filed on the basis of the Bhandari judgment, a ruling delivered by a UK High Court in the case of defence middleman Sanjay Bhandari.

Nirav 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 name of the state-run lender to obtain overseas loans.

He had left India in January 2018, shortly before the CBI initiated its probe into the scam.

Following his arrest in the United Kingdom in 2019, British courts had approved his extradition to India. The courts, while considering the case, had accepted assurances regarding his treatment in India and found no legal impediments to his extradition, subsequently dismissing his earlier appeals.