The government of Vanuatu has decided to cancel the passport granted to former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi, who fled India in May 2010 after being questioned for alleged financial irregularities, reported The Indian Express.

On Monday, Prime Minister Jotham Napat’s office stated he had directed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Modi, following recent revelations in the international media.

“I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ requests to issue an alert notice on Mr Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence,” the statement read. “Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Mr Modi’s citizenship application.”

Modi has been under investigation by Indian authorities for alleged forex violations and a Rs 425-crore television rights deal for the 2009 edition of the IPL with World Sports Group. He fled India after attending only one interrogation session with the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate officials in Mumbai.

Napat on Monday stressed that holding a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and applicants must seek citizenship for legitimate reasons.

“None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Mr Modi’s '[intention],” he added.

Vanuatu, a group of more than 80 islands in the Pacific Ocean with a population of about 300,000, offers citizenship through a Capital Investment Immigration Plan that requires a minimum non-refundable donation of $1,55,000 (approximately Rs 1.3 crore) for single applicants.

Napat’s office said the government had significantly strengthened its due diligence measures for granting citizenship by investment over the past four years, leading to a rise in applications being rejected after enhanced scrutiny by the Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit.

“The improved process implemented several years ago includes triple-agency checks, including Interpol verification,” the statement read.

Last week, Modi said he wanted to surrender his Indian passport after acquiring citizenship of Vanuatu.

India’s foreign ministry said on March 7 that his application would be examined as per the rules.

“We are also given to understand that he has acquired citizenship of Vanuatu,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “We continue to pursue the case against him as required under law.”