Aastha Thakur
Published on: 09 November 2022 at 22:43 IST
The High Court of Justice in London dismissed Nirav Modi’s plea on against his extradition to India in relation with the Rs. 14,000 crore Punjab National Bank Scam. (PNB Scam)
Justice Robert Jay and Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith announced the decision.
The High Court’s decision to grant Modi, 51, leave to appeal was premised on both Section 91 of the Extradition Act of 2003, which also deals with mental health, and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which allows for proceedings on whether it would be “unjust or oppressive” to extradite him.
The judges held, “…we are far from satisfied that Mr Modi’s mental condition and the risk of suicide are such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him,”
By threatening to assassinate Ashish Lad, one of his company’s directors, Modi was accused of conspiring to steal, launder money, and corrupt the course of justice.
In connection with the PNB Scam, he is the subject of two distinct types of criminal proceedings, one before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the other by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The Indian government submitted its initial request for Modi’s extradition on July 27, 2018. In February 2021, the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in the United Kingdom approved Modi’s extradition to India.
As per the order, “Having found a prima facie case on the conspiracy, for the sake of brevity, I am not going to embark on setting out the full evidence relied on within the ED request and my evaluation thereof. It is a point conceded by those representing NDM and I find there is prima facie case of money laundering,”
Following this verdict, his extradition was approved by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in April 2021.
Moreover, the High Court of England and Wales denied his request to oppose his extradition in June 2021.
Since his arrest in March 2019, Modi has remained imprisoned at Wandsworth Prison in London.