UK court rejects Nirav Modi's plea challenging extradition to India

A high court in the UK has dismissed fugtive diamond merchant Nirav Modi's appeal against his extradition to India.  Nirav Modi had filed a written application before the court. In the application, Nirav Modi had  challenged the extradition order issued against him by the Westminster Magistrates' court. An oral submission by the fugitive diamond trader is still pending in the high court. If the oral submission is rejected, Nirav Modi would have exhausted all of his legal options in the UK.

However, he could still approach the European Human Rights court and appeal against the extradition order. UK home secretary Priti Patel had ordered on April 15 of this year that Nirav be extradited to India. He has been lodged at the Wandsworth prison in London since his arrest on March 19, 2019. Nirav Modi fled India on January 1, 2018. A non-bailable arrest warrant was soon issued by a trial court against him in connection with the PNB scam. This was followed by a red corner notice by Interpol in June 2018. Spotted by a British journalist in London, Nirav Modi was later arrested by the UK Police. He moved the courts against the grounds for his arrest and even sought bail but his pleas were turned down by both the Westminster Magistrates' court and the high court in London. Nirav Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi was also charged in the PNB scam and is currently in custody in Dominica on charges of illegal entry. After fleeing India in 2018, Choksi settled down in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda.