Nirav Modi’s appeal against extradition to India will be heard on December 14
The diamond merchant was permitted to appeal against the British court’s extradition order on mental health grounds.
A British court on Wednesday said that it will hear fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s appeal against his extradition from the United Kingdom to India on December 14, PTI reported. Modi is accused of duping the Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 13,000 crore.
In February, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the UK had ruled that the fugitive diamond merchant can be extradited to India to face trial. On April 15, UK’s Home Minister Priti Patel approved his extradition.
Modi was arrested on March 19, 2019, and has been lodged in London’s Wandsworth jail. The 50-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 risks of being infected by Covid-19 in the prison.
On August 9, Justice Martin Chamberlain ruled that arguments presented by Modi’s legal team about his depression and high risk of suicide were arguable grounds for a substantial hearing.
The judge also noted the adequacy of measures in preventing suicide at the Arthur Road Jail fall within the ambit in allowing a substantial hearing.
Modi is facing two sets of criminal proceedings. The Central Bureau of Investigation case relates to the large-scale fraud upon PNB through the fraudulent obtaining of “Letters of Understanding”, while the Enforcement Directorate is investigating the laundering of the proceeds of that fraud.
He also faces two additional charges of “causing the disappearance of evidence” and intimidating witnesses, or criminal intimidation to cause death added to the CBI case.
Throughout the proceedings of the case, which went on for two years, Modi has denied the charges and opposed the efforts to extradite him from Britain to India. But his multiple attempts at seeking bail were repeatedly turned down as he was deemed a flight risk.
On Monday, a bankruptcy court in New York dismissed a petition of Modi and his associates, requesting the dismissal of fraud allegations against them.