A London Excessive Courtroom decide has denied Nirav Modi’s newest bail request, citing a “confidential obstacle” that continues to delay his extradition to India, the place he faces expenses of fraud and cash laundering. The decide additionally notes that Modi would “fail to give up” and his danger of absconding remained excessive.
At a listening to on Thursday on the Royal Courts of Justice, Justice Michael Fordham dominated that there stay substantial grounds to imagine that the 54-year-old fugitive would abscond if launched. The decide additionally acknowledged a “confidential” authorized impediment that has prevented Modi’s extradition, although the judicial course of has in any other case concluded.
“There’s a ‘authorized cause’ associated to ‘confidential proceedings’,” Justice Fordham acknowledged. “Its nature is understood to Mr. Modi and his authorized staff, and to the Residence Workplace. Past what I’ve recorded, it’s not identified to the CPS, the Authorities of India, or this court docket.”
Nicholas Hearn, barrister for the Crown Prosecution Service representing Indian authorities, confirmed consciousness of the obstacle and affirmed the necessity to respect its confidentiality—although its actual nature stays undisclosed. It’s believed to pertain to an asylum declare, a matter that has surfaced in earlier hearings however stays formally unconfirmed.
Justice Fordham mentioned the confidentiality imposes a “vital limitation” on what the court docket can consider when contemplating the dangers posed by Modi’s continued detention or launch.
Modi, who has been held at Thameside jail in London since his arrest in March 2019, has made at the least seven unsuccessful bail functions. His authorized staff argued that the prolonged pre-trial delay justifies launch, citing considerations over his psychological and bodily well being, delays in therapy, and stories of threats and coercion in custody.
Whereas the decide acknowledged these considerations and handled the applying “afresh” by itself deserves, he concluded that they don’t outweigh the dangers of flight.
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Modi faces three prison circumstances in India: the CBI’s fraud case associated to the Punjab Nationwide Financial institution, the Enforcement Directorate’s case on laundering the proceeds of that fraud, and a 3rd case alleging witness tampering and proof destruction.
In April 2021, then UK Residence Secretary Priti Patel signed off on his extradition after British courts discovered a prima facie case in opposition to him. Nonetheless, his give up stays stalled by the continuing confidential proceedings.
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