A court in UK on Thursday, 25 February, allowed the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, wanted in the 14-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam can be extradited to India to stand trial, reported ANI.
The judge, who had said that Modi has a case to answer for in India, said that the jeweler would not be denied justice if he is extradited to India.
District Judge Samuel Goozee ruled that Modi had conspired to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses, the report said.
The court also said that it was satisfied there is evidence that Modi could be convicted and that there were clearly links between him and other connivers including officials of PNB, reported NDTV.
The 49-year-old Modi had appeared via video conferencing from the Wandsworth Prison in south-west London at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court for the verdict in the nearly two-year-long battle. He has so far been denied bail despite multiple attempts, as he was deemed a flight risk by more than one court.
Modi, who was arrested on an extradition warrant on 19 March 2019, is the subject of two separate sets of criminal proceedings, one a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case relating to a large-scale fraud upon PNB, and another, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case relating to the laundering of the profits of that fraud.
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