UK High Court denies Nirav Modi right to appeal extradition order

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 16, 2022

The UK High Court has rejected jewellery tycoon Nirav Modi’s latest appeal. Modi had sought to appeal the High Court’s decision to extradite him to India to stand trial for fraud  at the UK’s Supreme Court. 

“The appellant’s [Nirav Modi] application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court is refused,” pronounced Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart- Smith and Justice Robert Jay in a judgement order, the Press Trust of India reported. The ruling was made on December 15 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, UK.
 
The UK High Court ruling was delivered just over a week after the UK Crown Prosecution Service submitted its response to Modi’s permission to appeal application. Modi has been directed to pay the legal fees of his latest application, which total £150,247. 

As Modi still has some legal options open to him to appeal his extradition, such as the potential to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (of which the UK is a signatory), an extradition date will not be set yet, ET Bureau reported. Since his arrest in London in March, 2019, Modi has been held in Wandsworth Prison just outside of London. 
 
Nirav Modi has been accused of playing a key role in one of the largest scale frauds in Indian banking history totalling around $2 billion. Modi is accused of defrauding the Punjab National bank and a number of other banks through his jewellery businesses including Nirav Modi and Firestar Diamonds along with his Uncle and fellow jewellery tycoon Mehul Choksi and his jewellery business Gitanjali Gems.