Nirav Modi claims 'sensational developments' to come in UK extradition case

Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi in prison for over six years has told a UK court there are sensational developments to come when his Indian extradition case on fraud and money laundering charges reopens for a hearing in London next monthThe 54yearold appeared in the dock before High Court Judge Simon Tinkler at the Royal Courts of Justice here on Friday to present his defence in an unrelated case involving an over USD 8 million unpaid Bank of India debtThe judge turned down Niravs application for a stay on the proceedings on the grounds of technical and medical constraints in prison which is set to proceed to a trial scheduled in January 2026They Bank of India refer to my extradition Im still here There will be some sensational developments and I have never used these words before said Nirav during a pretrial review hearingThe fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India in the estimated USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank PNB loan scam case told the court he was extremely hopeful of either being discharged or granted bail after the court agreed to accept new evidence despite a high bar in such mattersThe UKs Crown Prosecution Service CPS has confirmed that Nirav has lodged an application to reopen his extradition appeal with the Indian authorities submitting their response ahead of a hearing expected towards the end of NovemberDefending himself as a Litigant in Person Nirav read from copious handwritten notes as he addressed the judge Officers sat guard as their prisoner dressed in a wornout white tshirt and pink track pants spoke in mumbled tones about struggles with his eyesight and lengthy delays over access to a computer behind bars which he stressed made any trial unfair and imbalancedI understand this is an adversarial process and they Bank of India can say anything against me But they keep on making assumptions I would say spend one day in prison there needs to be some basic common sense he said appearing to lose his calm at one stageBank of India represented by barrister Tom Beasley and RWK Goodmans Milan Kapadia are pursuing Niravs personal guarantee related to a loan to Dubaiincorporated Firestar Diamond FZE They argued that a stay on the proceedings would be unfair to the bank as it would push the longpending claim off indefinitelyIf he is extradited he will likely remain in custody He will also be in a different time zone Beasley told the court adding that the bank remains sceptical about Niravs claimed lack of fundsJustice Tinkler ruled that on balance the need to preserve the courts timetable outweighs other considerations and that all efforts to ensure an equality of arms in the case have been madeIt is clear that some medical issues do affect his ability to work and will in all likelihood affect his ability to participate in the trial without reasonable adjustments being made the judge said referencing a confidential medical report submitted to himHowever with the trial listed for seven days in January the judge concluded that it was sufficient time to make adjustments to meet all medical needsHe also noted that the prison authorities have indicated that a computer will be made available to Nirav in a weeks time even as hard copies of all documents will be sent over to him ahead of another pretrial hearing in early DecemberNiravs inperson court appearance after recent videolinks followed a production order by the court It triggered some legal complexity of its own towards the end of the daylong hearing as Nirav had to be sent to HMP Pentonville prison in north LondonThe businessman appeared apprehensive about this shift from HMP Thameside in south London where he has been lodged over the past few months and appealed for the court to include a single occupancy cell request in the court orderThe judge said while that was not within the courts purview he had added directions for either all his paperwork to be moved over to him or for him to be returned to Thameside at the earliestNirav has been behind bars in London since his arrest in March 2019 and has made several bail attempts which have all been rejected on the grounds of him posing a flight risk most recently in May this yearThere are three sets of criminal proceedings against him in India the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI case of PNB fraud 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 proceedingsIn 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 He had since exhausted his legal avenues to contest the order until recently when his application to reopen his appeal was accepted in the UK and is set to be heard next monthThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or 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