The Indian High Commission in London on Thursday welcomed the Westminster Magistrates' Court ruling in the extradition case of diamond merchant Nirav Modi, wanted in India to stand trial on charges of fraud and money laundering related to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) letters of undertaking (LoUs) scam case. A senior diplomat at India House said the judgment, which found a prima facie case against the accused, paves the way for the government of India and the high commission officials to liaise with the UK authorities on the next stages of the procedural matters for his early extradition to India. "The judgment paves the way for the government of India, including the High Commission of India in London, to liaise with the UK authorities on the procedural matters," said the diplomat at the High Commission. "As with previous extradition cases, we will press on with the next steps," he said.
Sanjeev Chawla, accompanied by a Delhi police crime branch team from London, reached Delhi on Thursday morning
Vikas Yadav, a former Indian government official charged by the United States authorities for his alleged role in a foiled plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, was arrested by Delhi Police in December last year in an unrelated extortion and kidnapping case, police sources said.
Mallya has an automatic right to appeal in the UK High Court against the Chief Magistrate's order but is yet to confirm if he plans to do that.
Magistrate judge Jacqueline Chooljian on Thursday ordered the defence attorneys and prosecutors to file additional documents by July 15, which was reported by a US news agency.
"We continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian government at senior levels," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday rejected alleged bookie Sanjeev Chawla's application for an interim measure on human rights grounds to block his extradition from the UK to face match-fixing charges in India. The legal paperwork process for his extradition will now go ahead through the UK Central Authority, for Scotland Yard officers to hand Chawla over to their counterparts from Delhi Police to be flown back to Indian within days.
Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Monday lost his high court appeal against his extradition order to India in relation to charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.
Noting the urgency and desire on the part of India to extradite people accused of corruption, the UK on Friday said a "legal process" is on in Vijay Mallya's matter and it has to be followed through as there cannot be any shortcut. In May last year, the fugitive businessman lost his appeals in the British Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. Asked when can Mallya be extradited to India and if some kind of legal issue is still pending in the matter, new British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, without pointing to any particular case, said he recognises the urgency, importance and the desire to get back people who are accused of corruption to India.
The 49-year-old jeweller, fighting extradition in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, will appear via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London for the latest hearing in the case, during which District Judge Samuel Goozee will hear his defence team's arguments against the admissibility of certain evidence provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in order to establish a prima facie case against the accused.
Alamgir said that even after the fall of the Hasina government following a people's uprising, the 'Indian establishment is yet to reach out to BNP, even though China, the US, the UK, and Pakistan have already done so.'
The leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is on a point of law of general public importance, which according to experts is a very high threshold that is not often met.
'As the trial gets closer for Nikhil Gupta, they're going to want to make sure that he doesn't talk.' 'And they're going to put pressure on Mr Gupta to make some deal where the evidence doesn't come out.'
If the absconding jeweller is traced in Britain, the extradition request to the UK government could follow a similar course as the case of embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya
The diamond merchant wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank scam case, lost his legal battle against extradition as a UK judge ruled that he does have a case to answer before the Indian courts.
Chawla has been arrested over his role in the fixing of "cricket matches played between India and South Africa during the tour of the South African Cricket Team to India under the captainship of Cronje in February-March 2000".
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to enter a plea deal with the Joe Biden administration that could pave the way for him to avoid imprisonment in the United States, according to recently filed federal court documents, CNN reported.
Two Indian-origin brothers wanted in connection with the murder of a 22-year-old MTech student from India have been arrested by Australian police, media reports said.
Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has filed a civil lawsuit against the Government of India and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, with a US court issuing summons in the case.
Mallya now has 14 days from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal to the UK high court.
The five-day extradition trial of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi will begin from May 11 in a part-remote setting, a UK court has ordered. Modi is fighting his extradition to India over the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.
US deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US raised the issue directly at the most senior levels of the Indian government.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda E P Chet Greene on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly and raised the extradition issue of Choksi, who is currently in the Caribbean island.
Wanted diamond merchant Nirav Modi, whose extradition to India was ordered in April by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, has lost the first stage of his extradition appeal in the high court in London.
Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges, told a UK court on Thursday that he could be in England for years as some ongoing proceedings prevent his extradition. The 52-year-old former billionaire appeared for a hearing at Barkingside Magistrates' Court in east London via video link from Thameside prison in relation legal costs, or fines, amounting to GBP 150,247.00, accrued over his failed extradition appeal proceedings in the London high court. Dressed in a pink prison-issue outfit and sporting a moustache, a plump and bald Nirav addressed the three-member magistrates' bench to reveal that he had complied with the previous court direction to pay in GBP 10,000 per month towards the fines.
'The appellant (Mallya) has five business days to apply for oral consideration. If a renewal application is made, it will be listed before a high court judge and dealt with at a hearing,' a spokesperson for the UK judiciary said.
The MEA had said there are certain "technicalities involved" in the return of the remaining 16 Indian crew members.
A key defence to disprove a prima facie case of fraud and misrepresentation on Mallya's part has revolved around the fact that Kingfisher Airlines was the victim of economic misfortune alongside other Indian airlines.
A UK judge presiding over the extradition proceedings of Nirav Modi on Tuesday ruled that the evidence submitted by the Indian authorities to establish a prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against the fugitive diamantaire is broadly admissible. District Judge Samuel Goozee heard the arguments for and against the admissibility of certain witness statements provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and concluded that he considered himself "bound" by the previous UK court rulings in the extradition case of former Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya. He then adjourned the case for a two-day hearing on January 7 and 8 next year, when he will hear the final submissions in the case before he hands down his judgment a few weeks later.
Michel was extradited in an operation under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the Central Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday.
On July 2, Mallya's legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service - arguing on behalf of the Indian government - will go head to head to reiterate factors for and against the businessman's extradition to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.
India looking at bringing back Choksi under Antiguan law applicable to Commonwealth countries
Mallya, who has been out on bail since Scotland Yard executed an extradition warrant in April this year, will be in the dock for the duration of the trial -- scheduled to end on December 14.
Vikas Yadav, 39, was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India's foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the federal prosecutors claimed on Thursday in an indictment filed in a US court in New York.
Mallya's barrister, Clare Montgomery, reiterated the central defence that there had been no misrepresentation or fraud on the part of her client and that Kingfisher Airlines was the victim of economic misfortune alongside other airlines.
Vladimir Putin -- who only travels to countries (like China, North Korea) where he cannot be arrested and extradited to The Hague to face the International Court of Justice -- embraces Kim Jong Un on his arrival in Pyongyang early on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
India's judicial authorities have 'no jurisdiction' in the case involving Nikhil Gupta, Czech justice ministry spokesperson Vladimir Repka has said, days after his family approached the Supreme Court seeking its intervention in the matter.
Talking to reporters after placing a wreath at the grave of former president and BNP founder Zia-ur Rahman in the city, Fakhrul said India is seemingly not keeping its commitment towards democracy by providing shelter to her.
The next hearing to assess the progress in the case will be held at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 14.
Prompt measures and legal actions taken by the Indian government and PNB helped in securing the extradition of diamantaire Nirav Modi by the UK on Friday, a senior official said. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel on Friday signed off on the order to extradite Nirav Modi, wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges related to the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case. According to the government official, a scam of this magnitude had potential to create instability in the financial sector but the deft handling saved the entire public sector banking space from the crisis and litigation.
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