Nirav Modi has a case to answer in India: UK Court

An English court has ruled that Nirav Modi could be extradited to India to stand trial. It said a prima facie case has been established against the fugitive diamantaire and that he has a “case to answer for in India”.

The Westminister Magistrates’ Court in London ruled that Modi conspired to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses. District Judge Samuel Goozee said that Barrack 12 at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai is fit for Modi and that he would not be denied justice after his extradition to India.

“I am satisfied that there is evidence upon which Nirav Deepak Modi could be convicted in relation to the conspiracy to defraud the PNB. A prima face case is established,” the judge said.

Charges of money laundering, intimidation of witnesses and disappearance of evidence against the jeweller was brought up against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). The English court also dismissed Modi’s claim that the Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tried to influence the case against him. The court’s findings would be sent to the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Priti Patel, who is authorised to order extradition under the India-UK Extradition Treaty and has two months within which to make that decision.

India, under the Extradition Act 2003, is a designated Part 2 country, which means it is the Cabinet minister who has the authority to order a requested person’s extradition after considering a number of further issues. The Secretary of State must consider the possible imposition of the death penalty, in which case extradition cannot be ordered; the rule of specialty, which prohibits a person being dealt with in the requesting state for matters other than those referenced in the extradition request; and whether or not the person was in the UK following extradition from another state, in which case that states permission must be obtained before extraditing to a third state.

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Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of routing transactions of about Rs 13,600 crore through fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) of Punjab National Bank. Both fled India in the January 2018. Modi is subject to two separate criminal proceedings, with the CBI case relating to a large scale fraud upon PNB through the fraudulent obtaining of LoUs or loan agreements, and the ED case relating to the laundering of the proceeds of that fraud. The ED has alleged that Modi diverted over Rs 4,000 crore of the Rs 6,519 crore outstanding fraudulent LoUs issued by PNB to his firms, through 15 dummy companies based in the UAE and Hong Kong.