The UK High Court has concluded the hearing for Nirav Modi's application to reopen his extradition appeal, focusing on claims of potential torture during interrogations in India. The court has reserved its judgement.
The UK High Court has rejected Nirav Modi's attempt to reopen his extradition case, citing the Indian government's comprehensive assurances against torture as sufficient to allow his transfer to India.
The London High Court has rejected Nirav Modi's petition to reopen his extradition case, citing the Indian government's assurances regarding his treatment in India as a key factor in their decision.
Nehal Modi, the younger brother of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, has been arrested in the US based on extradition requests from the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.
Wanted diamond merchant Nirav Modi on Thursday lost his fight against being extradited to India as a United Kingdom judge ruled that he can be sent back to face charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2 billion Punjab National Bank scam case.
We might not have been seeking out baubles, says Kishore Singh, but there's nothing Nirav Modi liked more than surprising you with them.
Modi, 46, who had figured in the Forbes' list of richest Indians, has been named in the cheating case on a complaint from the PNB, which alleged that the jewellery firm owner, his brother, wife and Choksi entered into a criminal conspiracy with the officials of the bank and cheated it, causing a "wrongful loss".
The US Department of Justice declined to comment on Modi.
The charges against the diamond merchant centre around his firms Diamonds R Us, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds making fraudulent use of a credit facility offered by the Punjab National Bank, known as 'letters of undertaking'.
If his attempt to have his appeal heard in the Supreme Court fails, in principle, Modi can apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to try and block his extradition on the basis that he will not receive a fair trial and that he will be detained in conditions that breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory.
The UK court, which had been presented with detailed submissions regarding the precarious mental health of Nirav Modi and a family history of depression and suicide during the extradition proceedings, concluded on Thursday that the diamond merchant's state of mind may well benefit from a move from his London prison cell to Barrack 12 at Mumbai Central Prison on Arthur Road. As part of a very comprehensive judgment handed down by District Judge Samuel Goozee at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in which he found a prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against the 49-year-old diamond merchant, it is noted that Modi's risk of suicide may be high but there is no evidence to point to immediate suicidal intentions. The judgment refers to the expert defence witness who had assessed Modi, forensic psychiatrist Andrew Forrester, to point out that Barrack 12 may well be a positive change from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London where he is being held on judicial remand, with the COVID-19 pandemic playing a "significant role" in the deterioration of his "depressive disorder".
Diamond merchant Nirav Modi on Wednesday lost his appeal against extradition on mental health grounds as the high court in London ruled that his risk of suicide is not such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering. Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay, who presided over the appeal hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice earlier this year, said in their verdict that District Judge Sam Goozee's Westminster Magistrates' Court order from last year in favour of extradition was "sound". The leave to appeal in the high court had been granted on two grounds - under Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to hear arguments if it would "unjust or oppressive" to extradite 51-year-old Modi due to his mental state and Section 91 of the Extradition Act 2003, also related to mental health.
The bench also said there was merit in ED's contention that while the "driving force behind the companies" (Modi) was not submitting to the agency's jurisdiction, his companies cannot be given any discretionary relief.
Modi appeared for his regular 28-day "call-over" appearance from London's Wandsworth prison at Westminster magistrates' court, where judge Gareth Branston reconfirmed that his extradition trial will begin on May 11 next year and will last five days.
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.
The 49-year-old jeweller, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year, appeared via videolink for the remand hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.
The diamond merchant, who has been behind bars at HMP Wandsworth in south-west London ever since his first bail application was rejected on March 20, can apply for a high court bail appeal at any time until his next remand hearing on April 26.
With months to go for the Karnataka assembly elections, the man in the hot seat, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah says he'll make billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and the Punjab National Bank scam an issue in the upcoming Karnataka elections . In an interview to CNN-News18's Deepa Balakrishnan, the CM also says that Hindutva is not a campaign issue in the state.
His legal team, led by solicitor Anand Doobay, have previously offered one million pounds as security alongside an offer to meet stringent electronic tag restrictions on their client's movements, "akin to house arrest".
CBI Jt. Director, A K Sharma, weakened Mallya's "Look Out" notice, says Rahul.
The Congress had on Thursday targeted Modi for the presence of Punjab National Bank fraud accused jewellery designer Nirav Modi in an Indian business delegation at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
All the proceedings against Choksi of illegal entry into Dominica were dropped on May 20, the spokesperson said.
It was perhaps over-enthusiasm that prompted the Indian investigative agencies to take a private jet to Dominica to bring back fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi. Predictably, the eight-member team had to return empty-handed after almost a week-long wait. The agencies were banking too much on the "state-less" status of Mr Choksi, as Antigua, which had given him citizenship in 2017, wasn't willing to take him back. Thus, the calculation was that Mr Choksi would be whisked away from the Dominican courtroom to the waiting plane. The reason for the optimism was also because Antigua is friendly territory for India.
The former PM attack on the Modi government for its "disastrous policies" and "economic mismanagement".
#MainBhiChowkidar was trending world wide on Twitter.
The BJP threw a counter punch, claiming that the Gandhi family tried to help Mallya's floundering Kingfisher Airlines in 2011-12.
'And so, despite demonetisation, people in business feel safe with Mr Modi,' points out T N Ninan.
The Government of Dominica has told a court there to reject the habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of businessman Mehul Choksi who had claimed that he was abducted and forcefully brought to the Caribbean island nation, local media reported. The high court of Dominica ordered that the businessman be produced in a magistrate court to answer charges of his illegal entry into the country and adjourned the hearing on the habeas corpus petition till Thursday, according to local media. Rejecting the submission of Choksi who is wanted in India in an alleged Rs 13,500 crore loan fraud case in Punjab National Bank, the prosecution said the habeas corpus petition does not stand as he had illegally entered the country and was subsequently detained.
The least the Opposition can do, for India's sake, is try to offer one, says Mitali Saran.
Sibal termed these allegations as an attempt to divert attention from issues of national importance such as the CBSE paper leak.
The Dominica high court on Wednesday ordered that diamantaire Mehul Choksi be produced before a magistrate there to answer charges of his illegal entry into the Caribbean island country, local media reported. Dominica high court Judge Bernie Stephenson issued the orders after nearly three hours of hearing on a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Choksi who had claimed that he was abducted from neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda and forcefully brought to the Caribbean Island nation. She adjourned the habeas corpus matter till Thursday, Dominica News Online reported.
Lauding the contribution of non-resident Indians in the development of the country, he said, 'Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, B R Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru were all NRIs. They travelled the world and helped India with new perspectives.'
Did men and women of redoubtable experience and public service, upholders of the country's steel frame and paragons of corporate governance, never smell a rat?
Jabir Moti, 51, who was arrested by Scotland Yard last year, appeared before the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London at the start of his trial.
However, the Indian capital markets regulator rejected the claim saying it neither received any such request, nor provided any such information to the concerned department in Antigua.
Bad loans of PSBs are at Rs 20 trillion. Most of it is, I sense, due to corruption and behest lending. Nobody pays a price for this charade. Not the promoters, the bankers, RBI officials, finance ministry bureaucrats or politicians, points out Debashis Basu.
'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.
Manish Kumar Sinha has also alleged that the complainant in the case, businessman Sana Sathish Babu, had told him that Union minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhari had been paid bribes to the tune of several crores of rupees for alleged help in matters related to CBI.
What Indrani doesn't know is that even if she is handed down a sentence of not guilty by the judge at the end of the long and meandering Sheena Bora murder trial, for India's legion of armchair judges, she will always be guilty. She won't be able to change that. Ever.