Setback to fugitive Nirav Modi as UK court rejects fresh bail plea

In a setback to fugitive Indian diamond merchant Nirav Modi, his fresh bail application was rejected by the High Court of Justice in London.

The Crown Prosecution Service, assisted by a CBI team from India, successfully opposed the plea.

This was Nirav Modi's 10th bail petition since his detention in the UK.

"Fresh bail petition filed by Nirav Deepak Modi was rejected Thursday by the High Court of Justice, King's Bench Division, London," the CBI said in a statement here.

Nirav Modi has been in prison in London for nearly six years after losing his extradition battle to face fraud and money laundering charges in India.

He was arrested on an extradition warrant on March 19, 2019, and the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered his extradition in April 2021.

While the extradition case was technically at an end, Nirav Modi could not be surrendered to the Indian authorities, Modi's lawyer Edward Fitzgerald told the High Court, reported Reuters.

"There are confidential legal reasons why (Modi) cannot be extradited," Fitzgerald said.

In November 2022, his appeal against a decision to extradite him to India was rejected by London's High Court.

Modi has since exhausted his legal appeals in the case up to the Supreme Court and made several bail applications, which have all been turned down over his “real and substantial” flight risk.

In September 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached “proceeds of crime” in the form of immovable properties and bank balances amounting to ₹29.75 crore in a case related to Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.

The case concerns the alleged siphoning of ₹13,500 crore of public money from the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) using fraudulent letters of undertaking.

Nirav Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi, a prime accused in the multi-million dollar Punjab National Bank (PNB) 'fraud', was arrested in Belgium on April 12 following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies.

Cases in India

1. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case of fraud on the Punjab National Bank (PNB)
2. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case relating to the alleged laundering of the proceeds of that fraud.
3. A set of criminal proceedings involving alleged interference with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings.