New Delhi: A joint team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to travel to London next week for the first hearing on Nirav Modi’s appeal against his extradition to India. The team will assist the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in countering the fugitive diamantaire’s claims that he risks torture if sent to India — assertions the agencies say are deceptive, people familiar with the development said on Friday.
CBI team to visit London for hearing in Nirav case
The Indian team will also argue that Nirav Modi has a pattern of filing frivolous appeals to stall extradition, which has already been cleared by the UK courts, and that his bail applications have been rejected at least 10 times previously.
A plea by Modi to reopen his extradition case was admitted by a Westminster court in August this year. The jailed fugitive has alleged that, if extradited, he will be interrogated by multiple agencies and may face torture during such interrogation.
To counter this, the Indian government has already sent a letter of assurance to London – a sovereign guarantee of sorts – stating that the fugitive diamantaire, in the event of extradition, “will only face trial” in India and “won’t be interrogated or taken into custody by any agency”.
“A joint team (of CBI and ED) is travelling to London on December 14 to assist the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in presenting evidence against Nirav Modi and argue that his claims of torture, based on which he seeks to reopen the entire extradition trial, are deceptive,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.
The first hearing in the matter is expected to take place on December 16.
Accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of ₹6,498 crore [part of a total ₹13,578 crore fraud, with around ₹7,000 crore linked to his uncle Mehul Choksi], Nirav Modi has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison on the outskirts of London since March 19, 2019. He was arrested by Scotland Yard on the basis of India’s extradition request.
On February 25, 2021, a district judge at Westminster magistrates’ court ordered his extradition to India. The order was upheld by the UK High Court on November 9, 2022. The high court also rejected his plea to appeal to the UK Supreme Court, effectively exhausting his legal options.
A second officer cited above said, “Modi has made similar farcical claims in the past as well but in the last three-four years, his applications to get bail have also been rejected on 10 occasions. For instance, he tried to mislead the UK courts by claiming that he would rent an apartment in London or get a job to show he won’t flee Britain, or that he is ready to be kept under house arrest, but all these have been successfully contested by Indian agencies”.
The latest plea to reopen the extradition case, the officer added, “is also an attempt to postpone his repatriation to India”.
HT had exclusively reported on September 19 that Nirav Modi’s plea seeking to reopen the matter was admitted by a London court. A former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retired) Deepak Verma, has provided an expert opinion on behalf of Modi to back his claim.
India has informed the authorities in the UK that Nirav Modi will be housed in Arthur Road prison in Mumbai, which has good living conditions for inmates.
Modi was declared a fugitive economic offender under the FEO Act, 2018. His assets worth ₹2,598 crore have been attached by ED under the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA), and ₹981 crore has been restored to the victim banks.