In a major victory for India, a UK court has ordered the extradition of fugitive economic offender Nirav Modi to India as he is wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate in a Rs 13,500-crore bank loan fraud case.
In what can be termed as a victory on all counts, India has managed to convince a UK court to extradite Nirav Modi to India where he will face justice for his various economic offences. The UK court prima facie accepted India’s charge of fraud, money laundering, threatening witnesses, and tampering with evidence.
Despite Nirav Modi’s claims to the contrary, the UK court accepted that Indian courts would give him a fair trial. In fact, Magistrate Samuel Goozee ruled that detention conditions proposed for the fugitive in India are not just adequate, but also better than they are in Wandsworth prison — where Nirav Modi has been detained for the past two years. Nirav is slated to be lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail upon his extradition to India.
Brushing aside Nirav Modi’s claims that he is suffering from depression and won’t get the required care in Arthur Road jail, the magistrate observed that a move to a far better option of staying in Barrack 12 could actually lighten his depression.
The importance of India’s victory cannot be overstated as it is pertinent to note that recently a magistrate denied the request of the US to extradite Julian Assange on the grounds of depression and proneness to suicide. Nirav Modi’s legal team albeit failingly attempted to block his extradition on the same grounds.
While the scales remain tilted against the fugitive billionaire, his journey from being the celebrity face of multiple jewellery brands to being wanted by Interpol is certainly one to ponder upon. Nirav Modi’s diamond boutique in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai had become the epicentre of one of the largest banking frauds detected in the country when he along with his uncle Mehul Chowksi had allegedly orchestrated the PNB Fraud Case. The case relates to deceiving the bank through fraudulent letters of undertaking and letters of credit worth 14,356.84 crores issued by the PNB.
Nirav Modi has allegedly siphoned off Rs 13,500 crore from the PNB in connivance with his uncle Mehul Choksi and bank officials at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. On discovery, the bank had suspended 10 officers and had referred the matter to CBI for investigation, along with a warning for the other banks of the modus operandi used by the bank officials.
Now, the order will be sent to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel who will subsequently order Nirav Modi’s extradition as bound by the law and will rubber-stamp the court’s approval. While like Vijay Mallya, Nirav can certainly buy time by appealing to higher courts or seeking asylum, it will only buy him a few months as he can only delay the inevitable. It is almost a certainty that the Arthur Road jail will be Nirav’s new home.