London:
After dismissing Nirav Modi’s 10th bail argument, after considering that the fugitive Diamond Trader will be ‘absconding’, if the London High Court judge said that the UK courts have “concluded twice that there is a priced priority facial case against the applicant.”
Saying that the risk of his absconding is high, Justice Michael Fordham rejected the bail argument in the royal courts of justice.
Justice Fordham rejected Nirav Modi’s bail plea on 15 May, saying, “And I repeat, the UK courts have concluded twice that there is a primary facial case against the applicant.”
The 54 -year -old fugitive has filed a bail application after extradition in India by a UK court. His bail application was opposed by Indian agencies before the High Court. It was his 10th bail plea since his custody in the United Kingdom in 2019.
Nirav Modi was declared a fugitive economic criminal by India in December 2019, a prime accused of cheating more than Rs 13,800 crore at Punjab National Bank.
The High Court of Britain said that Nirav Modi is desired for testing for ‘great seriousness and matter’ cases related to allegations of economic crime in India, stating that he was a major criminal.
The High Court mentioned that the allegation is that, as a major criminal, Nirav Modi (working in combination with others) fraudulently motivated PNB to issue documents, allowing them to withdraw money from foreign banks.
In the earlier extradition proceedings, the central points were put forward by the applicant, that there was a good and legitimate clarification for the transfer of funds to the related institutions receiving those monasteries; Instead of any denial that monies were actually transferred, the court noted in the May 15 order.
Justice Fordham stated that the zodiac signs inspired by fraud have been transferred to a total amount of US $ 1,015.35 million.
In the context of extradition of the applicant, the courts have assessed the inherent evidence being trusted against the bail applicant on two occasions. On every occasion, the court is satisfied that there is a “prima facial case”, Fordham said.
The court also considered the destruction of a mobile phone in 2018 and intervention with witnesses.
The court said, “One part of the allegations that is there is that he was criminally responsible for the tasks in which the witnesses were intervened and the evidence was destroyed,” the court said.
The judge further said, “It also said that was destroyed, there was evidence on a computer server in Dubai in February 2018. All this must have been at a time when the applicant was here in Britain.”
Earlier this week, the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) also issued a press release, confirming the court’s decision.
“The latest bail plea filed by Nirav Deepak Modi was rejected by the High Court, the Kings Bench Division, London. The bail arguments were strongly opposed by a severe crown prosecution service advocate, which was assisted by a strong CBI team traveling to London for this purpose.”
The statement said: “The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) can successfully defend the arguments that resulted in bail rejection. Nirav Deepak Modi is in Britain’s jail since 19 March 2019. It can be remembered that Nirav Modi is a fugitive economic crime, which is wanted to test in India in a bank fraud case for CBI.
The CBI further said: “This is his 10th bail petition since his detention in Britain, which was successfully defended by the CBI through Crown Prosecution Service, London.”
British officials arrested Modi in March 2019, and the UK High Court has already approved its extradition in India.
In 2018, the ED registered a PMLA case against him and his uncle Mehul Choksi, in which several assets were seized during the investigation. His efforts to block extradition, including a petition in the UK Supreme Court in December 2022, have repeatedly failed.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
