Desperate Nirav Modi tells UK court that extradition to India will 'worsen suicide risks'

In the last bid to save himself, fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi on Wednesday said that his extradition to India would be a "flagrant denial of justice". Justifying his statement, Nirav Modi's lawyer told a bench of the High Court of London that it would 'severely impact' his mental health, and would 'increase' the substantial risk of suicide. The development comes as a part of the renewed appeal of the fugitive diamantaire against being extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case.

The 50-year-old jeweler, who remains behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in South-West London, had lost the first stage of the High Court appeals process last week as a judge declined permission to appeal "on the papers".

On February 25, District Judge Samuel Goozee of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court had ruled that a prima facie case of money laundering was established. Noting that the Letters of Understanding had been issued between 2011 and 2017 without being entered in the CBS (core banking solution) system of the bank to mislead authorities, he did not accept that the accused was involved in a legitimate business. Expressing satisfaction that Nirav Modi could be convicted, the judge had also rejected other arguments made by the defence counsel. 

PNB fraud case

Nirav Modi who was arrested on March 19, 2019, in London, has been accused to be the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB to the extend of Rs 13,578 crore. Total 12 Provisional Attachment Orders (PAO) were issued and all were confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority. The total properties then attached were Rs. 1898.12 Crore approximately by the ED. Also, one Original Application (OA) was filed for the seizure of properties worth Rs. 489 Crore.

In June 2020, the court ordered the confiscation of freehold properties of Nirav Modi amounting to Rs. 329.67 crore. Thereafter, the court passed another order for restoration of properties worth Rs 1060.60 Crore to the Punjab National Bank, defrauded by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the former being the prime accused. One more application requesting confiscation of remaining properties worth Rs 928.91 Crore was also filed. 

(Credit-PTI/AP)