The High Court in London on Thursday rejected fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s application to appeal against his extradition from the United Kingdom to India in the country’s Supreme Court, reported Reuters.
Modi is accused of duping the Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 13,000 crore. In February, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the United Kingdom ruled that the fugitive diamond merchant could be extradited to India to face trial. On April 15, the country’s then Home Secretary Priti Patel approved his extradition.
The 51-year-old businessman had appealed against his extradition in a London court, saying that he faced the risk of dying by suicide due to mental illness if transferred to the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai. He also cited the risk of being infected by Covid-19 in the prison.
In the previous hearing, Judge Jeremy Stuart-Smith ruled that Modi could be lodged safely at the Arthur Road Jail, where he would be placed after being extradited to India, reported Reuters. The British court had also noted that the risk of suicide in case of extradition could be high, but the arrangements at the prison would “enable the authorities to cope properly with Modi’s condition”.
The businessman was arrested in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2019, and has been lodged in London’s Wandsworth jail ever since.
Modi is facing two sets of criminal proceedings. The first case, filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, relates to him fraudulently obtaining “Letters of Understanding” from the Punjab National Bank. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering related to the case.
In the CBI case, the fugitive businessman also faces two additional charges of “causing the disappearance of evidence” and intimidating witnesses, or criminal intimidation to cause death.
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