‘Sensational Developments To Come’: Nirav Modi Says In London Court Over Extradition Case

Nirav Modi Case: Fugitive businessman Nirav Modi, who has been in prison in London for nearly six years, has told a UK court that there would be “sensational developments” when his Indian extradition case on fraud and money laundering charges reopens for a hearing next month.

The 54-year-old fugitive diamantaire, who is facing charges related to the Rs 6,498 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, made the remark during a separate legal proceeding, involving an over USD 8 million unpaid Bank of India debt, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

“They (Bank of India) refer to my extradition… I’m still here. There will be some sensational developments, and I have never used these words before,” Nirav said during a pre-trial review hearing, as

reported by news agency PTI.

Defending himself as a “Litigant in Person”, Nirav read from copious handwritten notes as he addressed the judge.  Dressed in a worn-out white t-shirt and pink track pants, Nirav spoke in mumbled tones about struggles with his eyesight and lengthy delays over access to a computer behind bars, which he stressed made any trial unfair and imbalanced.

“I understand this is an adversarial process and they (Bank of India) can say anything against me. But they keep on making assumptions; I would say, spend one day in prison… there needs to be some basic common sense,” he added.

He further said that he was “extremely hopeful” of either being discharged or granted bail after the court agreed to accept new evidence despite a “high bar” in such matters.

However, High Court Judge Simon Tinkler turned down Nirav’s application for a stay on the proceedings on the grounds of technical and medical constraints in prison, which is set to proceed to a trial scheduled in January 2026.

The judge also acknowledged that while medical issues could impact Nirav’s participation in the trial, reasonable adjustments, including access to a computer and hard copies of legal documents, would be made. Prison authorities have indicated that a computer will be made available to him within a week.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that Modi has formally lodged an application to reopen his extradition appeal. Indian authorities have already submitted their response, and a hearing is scheduled towards the end of November. The development marks a significant turn in a case that had seemed to reach a dead end after the UK Home Office ordered his extradition.

Nirav has been behind bars in London since his arrest in March 2019 and has made several bail attempts, which have all been rejected on the grounds of him posing a flight risk – most recently in May this year.

Charges Against Nirav Modi

Nirav Modi had fled India in January 2018, weeks before the PNB scam surfaced and has been in a UK jail since March 2019.

The diamond merchant along with his uncle has been accused of siphoning off over Rs 13,000 crore from the PNB using fraudulent letters of undertaking and foreign letters of credit.

Officials at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai issued letters of undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) to their firms without any sanctioned limit or cash margin and without making entries in the bank’s central system to evade any scrutiny in case of a default.

Based on the LoUs issued by the PNB, money was lent by the SBI, Mauritius; Allahabad Bank, Hong Kong; Axis Bank, Hong Kong; Bank of India, Antwerp; Canara Bank, Mamana; and SBI, Frankfurt.

Since the accused companies did not repay the amount availed against the said fraudulent LoUs and FLCs, PNB made the payments, including the overdue interest, to the overseas banks, which advanced buyer’s credit and discounted the bills against the fraudulent LoUs and FLCs issued by the PNB, the CBI alleged.

Nirav Modi was declared a fugitive economic offender by a Mumbai court in 2020 and the court had ordered confiscation of his assets.

(With inputs from agencies)