The decision of the UK High Court to reject the fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi’s appeal against extradition back to India was hailed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday.
“India has been vigorously pursuing the extradition of economic fugitives so that they face justice in India. We welcome the decision of the UK High Court. We want to bring him to India as soon as possible,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Nirav Modi’s extradition order by the UK HC.
A UK court granted India’s request for the extradition of arms trader Sanjay Bhandari on Monday so that he might face prosecution in India for money laundering.
“We’ve seen another court give a decision in favour of extraditing him (Sanjay Bhandari) to India. This is usually a lengthy process, but we’ll continue to make all efforts so that economic fugitives can come back to India to face the justice system of the country,” said the MEA spokesperson.
Nirav Modi’s appeal against his extradition to India was denied by a British judge on Wednesday. Nirav Modi’s appeal was denied by the High Court of London (United Kingdom), and he is now wanted in India on charges of money laundering and fraud.
The main suspect in the Rs 13,500-crore PNB scandal, Nirav Modi, had left India. He filed a motion with the London High Court to prevent extradition on the basis of mental illness, but he lost his appeal.
There are “no symptoms of psychotic disease,” according to the High Court’s bench of Justices Stuart Smith and Robert Jay.
“Nirav Modi neither is nor is highly likely to be at the most severe end of the scale of depressive disorder,” the court said, rejecting the assertions made by Nirav Modi’s attorney that his client will commit suicide as a result of severe depression.
