UK HC rejects Nirav Modi’s fresh bail application

The High Court of Justice in London on Thursday rejected a fresh bail petition filed by diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is held in a prison there and wanted in India in the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case orchestrated with his uncle Mehul Choksi, officials said. Modi approached the court in London on Thursday seeking his release on bail pending the decision on his extradition request, they said. “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 advocate, who was ably assisted by a strong CBI team consisting of investigating and law officers who travelled to London for this purpose,” the CBI said in a statement in Delhi.
“The bail arguments were strongly opposed by the Crown Prosecution Service advocate who was ably assisted by a strong CBI team consisting of investigating and law officers who travelled to London for this purpose,” the CBI said, according to ANI. He was arrested on an extradition warrant on March 19, 2019, and then UK home secretary Priti Patel ordered his extradition in April 2021. Nirav has since exhausted his legal appeals in the case up to the Supreme Court and made several bail applications, which have all been turned down over his “real and substantial” flight risk.
There are three sets of criminal proceedings against Nirav Modi in India – the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case of fraud on the Punjab National Bank (PNB), the Enforcement Directorate (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.