London, Mar 18 (PTI) Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s application hearing seeking permission to reopen his extradition appeal concluded in the High Court in London, with claims that he faces a “real risk of torture” during interrogations by the investigating agencies in India. Lord Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay, presiding over the appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice, reserved their judgment at the end of a day-long hearing on Tuesday.
“This case is of extreme importance, to Mr Modi and to the Indian officials who have travelled from India. We will deliver the judgment as soon as possible,” said Stuart-Smith, as the hearing listed over two days was wrapped up early.
The 54-year-old businessman, wanted in India to stand trial on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case, appeared via videolink from Pentonville prison in north London.
His lawyers relied heavily on the extradition case of Sanjay Bhandari – the defence sector consultant accused of tax evasion and money laundering, who was discharged from extradition bail on human rights grounds last year.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), representing the Indian government in court, argued against the grounds for reopening a matter in which Nirav’s extradition had been ordered nearly six years ago.
Extradition poses a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment or torture arising from interrogation in India, argued Nirav’s barrister Edward Fitzgerald KC.
He also sought to underplay the assurances given by the government of India as “neither adequate nor reliable” to meet the risk posed by the prospect of additional non-bailable warrants being executed against the diamantaire.
He alleged that his client could even be moved from Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai to Gujarat to be interrogated by agencies other than the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).
CPS barrister Helen Malcolm KC highlighted the Indian position that not only had Nirav’s application been brought out of time, but also on a “false premise”.
She appealed to the court to adopt a “common sense approach” as the case is “entirely exceptional and significant protective factors exist” which will ensure the assurances given by the government of India are not breached – not least due to the prospect of adversely impacting future extradition proceedings between India and the UK.
“As to any suggestion that the assurances might be reneged on in secret, the high-profile nature of NDM (Nirav Deepak Modi) and his case make that an unreal proposition,” court documents state.
If permission to appeal is denied following this week’s hearing, the decks are expected to be cleared for Nirav Modi’s extradition to be held at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai ahead of his trial in India.
There are three sets of criminal proceedings against Nirav Modi in India – the CBI case of PNB fraud, the ED case relating to the alleged laundering of the proceeds of that fraud and a third set of criminal proceedings involving alleged interference with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings.
In April 2021, then UK home secretary Priti Patel had ordered his extradition to face these charges in the Indian courts after a prima facie case was established against him. Since then, Nirav Modi has gone on to submit several unsuccessful bail applications as well as appeals in the UK courts. PTI AK GRS GRS GRS
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