NEW DELHI, May 16: A court in London rejected a fresh bail petition filed by fugitive Indian diamond merchant Nirav Modi, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Thursday.
Modi’s bail plea, which was heard by the High Court of Justice, King’s Bench Division, was rejected for the 10th time since his detention in his extradition case to India to face charges in the Punjab National Bank fraud and money laundering case amounting to up to Rs 6,498 crore.
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The 52-year-old’s legal counsel argued for bail on the grounds of “passage of time” and the adverse impact on his health in his London prison, as per PTI.
“Fresh bail petition filed by Nirav Deepak Modi was rejected Thursday by the High Court of Justice, King’s Bench Division, London. The bail arguments were strongly opposed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) advocate, who was ably assisted by a strong CBI team consisting of investigating and law officers who travelled to London for this purpose,” the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement in New Delhi.
CBI could successfully defend the arguments which resulted in rejection of the bail, it said in a press release.
Nirav Modi along with his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of routing one of India’s biggest banking scams, involving the fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) by PNB. Modi allegedly defrauded Indian banks of over Rs 6,498 crore, while Choksi’s fraud is pegged at over Rs 7,000 crore. Both fled India before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed cases in 2018.
Modi was arrested in March 2019, and his extradition was approved by the court in February 2021, and by the UK government in April 2021. However, he still has not come to India. Since his arrest, he remained at Wandsworth Prison in southwest London.
