A team of CBI and Enforcement Directorate officials will be traveling to London soon to pursue the court proceedings for extradition of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi who has been sent to prison after his bail plea was rejected by a UK court on Wednesday. Modi will be in judicial custody till March 29.
After Modi’s arrest in London on Wednesday morning, the CBI and the ED teams in Mumbai have been working overtime preparing a fresh affidavit to submit in the London court detailing the case and the criminal charges against the businessman, an accused in the multi-million PNB fraud case.
Also read
- Nirav Modi’s appeal against extradition from UK to be heard on Dec 14
- US court rejects plea filed by Nirav Modi, associates seek dismissal of fraud allegations
- UK High Court rejects plea from Nirav Modi to appeal against extradition
- ED transfers assets of Mallya, Nirav, Choksi worth Rs 8,441.5 crore to PSU banks
Modi had been spotted in London recently by the UK media, which swung the government into action to pursue his case with the UK authorities. Sources said Modi’s son has been studying in London, which was one of the reasons for his continued presence there. The elusive diamantaire was arrested while on a visit to a bank.
The twin agencies submitted the first affidavit in the form of an extradition request to the UK home department after Modi had fled India.
“A second affidavit detailing the charges against him in a case summary will be submitted to the court,” said a senior official.
Once the second affidavit containing the case summary is submitted to the court, the CBI and the ED teams will prepare for a “case management hearing” in the UK court which will decide on the schedule of hearing and the dates to be given to the accused for being present in court.
The team of CBI and ED officials, who have been pursuing his case in Mumbai where the multi-million bank fraud was committed, are expected to travel to London for the case management hearing.
The arrested businessman will be staying in jail till then even as his lawyers are actively trying to firm up a defense saying the case against him in India is politically motivated. Sources said Modi is also citing human rights issues to plead his case for further stay in the UK.
The defense is expected to be along similar lines of Vijay Mallya, the fugitive liquor baron whose extradition to India was granted by the UK court in December last. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed his extradition order in February. The CBI and the ED have now got a shot in the arm with Modi’s arrest and the work has now begun to lay hands on him.
Modi had been giving many a sleepless night to the CBI and the ED who were trying to locate his exact location for past several months. The CBI had issued look out notices against Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi in the bank fraud case. The duo face allegations of defrauding the Punjab National Bank of Rs 13,578 crore in issuance of letters of undertaking and foreign letters of credit on the basis of alleged fabricated documents.
