London High Court refuses Nirav Modi’s request to reopen extradition case, citing lack of exceptional grounds…reports Asian Lite News Desk
Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi suffered a legal setback after the High Court of Justice, King’s Bench Division in London rejected his plea to reopen proceedings against his extradition to India.
The petition was argued by the Crown Prosecution Service, supported by a dedicated team from the Central Bureau of Investigation, including investigating officers who travelled to London to assist during the hearing.
Modi’s application was based on a recent UK High Court ruling in the case involving defence middleman Sanjay Bhandari. In that case, the court had declined Bhandari’s extradition to India on humanitarian grounds, after he argued that he could face torture if returned.
Relying on the same judgment, Modi contended that he too would face a similar risk if extradited to India. However, officials from the CBI presented counterarguments, challenging the applicability of the Bhandari ruling to Modi’s case and asserting that adequate assurances regarding his treatment had already been addressed in earlier proceedings.
While delivering its decision, the UK High Court observed that Modi’s petition failed to meet the threshold of “exceptional circumstances” required to justify reopening an already decided matter. The court noted that the arguments presented did not introduce sufficient new grounds to warrant revisiting the earlier ruling.
The decision effectively upholds the prior approval of Modi’s extradition to India, which had been cleared by British courts after detailed consideration of legal and humanitarian aspects. Courts had previously accepted assurances regarding prison conditions and due process in India, dismissing Modi’s earlier appeals against extradition.
Modi is wanted in India in connection with the high-profile Punjab National Bank fraud case, involving alleged fraudulent guarantees issued to secure overseas loans. The case triggered one of India’s largest banking fraud investigations.
He left India in January 2018, shortly before the CBI launched its probe into the scam, and was subsequently arrested in the United Kingdom in 2019. Since then, he has remained in custody while pursuing multiple legal avenues to challenge his extradition.
With the latest ruling, Modi’s attempt to reopen his case has been firmly rejected, reinforcing the earlier judicial position that there are no legal barriers preventing his extradition to India.
