A court in the United Kingdom has accepted a petition from fugitive businessman Nirav Modi to ‘reopen’ his extradition proceedings. The move could mean that Nirav Modi’s long-pending extradition to India will be delayed, as he continues to face charges of defrauding a bank, according to a report by The Hindustan Times.
“Nirav Modi, through his legal team, filed an application before the Westminster court in the UK last month, seeking to reopen the appeal against his extradition to India. The court has accepted it and a notice has been served to the Indian government,” a government official was quoted as saying by HT.
The court is yet to set the date to hear the plea, the report stated.
Nirav Modi is understood to have argued in his plea that “if extradited to India, he will be interrogated by multiple agencies and may face torture during such interrogation,” the official quoted by HT said. He cited past testimonies to make the argument, according to the report.
India prepares to extradite Nirav Modi
As the UK court accepted the application of Nirav Modi, Indian officials and investigating agencies are preparing to send a formal response to London in an attempt to bypass a lengthy legal battle that will delay the extradition.
A second source quoted by HT said that the government is preparing to refute the claims.
“We are preparing a detailed response, to be sent through proper diplomatic channels, rebutting his claims and urging the court to dismiss the application, since the extradition order had already attained finality in 2022,” the source was quoted as saying.
The Centre also plans to tell the UK court that if extradited, Nirav Modi will face trial in strict accordance with the Indian law. This means that he will not be subjected to interrogation by agencies.
Officials said that the extradition process of Nirav Modi was going on smoothly, particularly after PM Narendra Modi’s UK visit in July when the countries signed a historic free trade agreement. This made both CBI and ED hopeful of a prompt extradition.
Earlier in September, a delegation from the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recently visited Tihar Jail in the national capital. The visit was part of the Indian legal system’s ongoing efforts to facilitate the extradition of fugitives to India.
Nirav Modi, prime accused in the ₹13,800 crore Punjab National Bank scam, was declared a fugitive offender in 2019 and was arrested in the UK the same year. His extradition has already been cleared by a London court
