Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
the indian express

Enforcement Directorate efforts to extradite diamantaire Nirav Modi from UK, who faces charges of fraud and money, have finally fructified. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has reported the Indian government will coordinate with the authorities in the United Kingdom for the early extradition of Nirav Modi.

This long-sought victory for India comes after the Westminster Magistrates’ court in London ordered the jailed diamond merchant’s extradition to India, approving Indian authorities request against the businessman .

The UK court has ordered Nirav Modi to be extradited to India to face his long-awaited trial . This decision was taken against his fragile and insignificant argument of “mental health concerns,”. The court stated that they are not unusual in the case of a man who is about to face his trial.

MEA spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava stated that “Now since the Magistrates’ Court has recommended Nirav Modi’s extradition to the UK Home Secretary, the government of India would liaise with UK authorities for his early extradition to India,”.

Businessman Nirav Modi is wanted in connection with the ₹13,758-crore Punjab National Bank Fraud. The banking sector had taken a hit after PNB bank had informed exchanges in 2018, that some unauthorized and fraudulent transactions were recorded worth $1.77 billion or Rs. 11,400 crores.

This had led to the fall in the share prices of 34 out of 39 registered banks. Consequently, the sudden volatility had eroded the market cap of the respective 34 banks by Rs. 36,000 crores. PNB had also reportedly registered net losses worth Rs. 4,532.35 crore.

The fraud had also exposed supervision lapses and failure controls not only at PNB but  in the entire  banking system collectively. The unregulated use of the SWIFT system and the government unable to track shell companies set up by the fraudulent, mastermind billionaires in order to get their loans sanctioned, only added to the high monetary slippages in the banking system leading to higher NPA ratios and shaky investor confidence. This not only affects the economy due to the crunch of liquidity but also leads to plummeting saving rate and ultimately leads to low savings in the economy.

After the court’s decision, the judge will now send his findings to the UK secretary of state for Home Affairs under the UK Extradition Act, 2003. Thereafter, the UK cabinet minister is authorized to order extradition under the India-UK extradition treaty and within the time frame of two months. As it is known that the home secretary’s order rarely goes against the court’s decisions , Nirav Modi is sure to be extradited to India.

According to the UK’s official website it has been reported that  “Unless there is an appeal, a requested person must be extradited within 28 days of the Secretary of State’s decision to order extradition (subject to any appeal),” .

It is also quite a discernable pattern that UK proves to be a safe haven for many fraudsters or fugitive billionaires trying to escape legal trials in their countries. It has been reported that 5,500 Indians have sought political asylum in UK since 2013. India and UK had signed the extradition treaty in 1992, and it is to be noted that a grand total of 1 fugitive has been extradited to India so far.

Thus it is quite a debatable topic that why has there been a huge amount of pending extradition cases in UK ? The legal laws of  UK are to be blamed for its irregularities. The country is a signatory to the European  Convention  and European Rights. Therefore if the British court deems it fit to decide that the extradition is due to political reasons or the accused will be tortured under the authorities, the court can turn down the extradition request. This very faulty aspect of the UK laws was cleverly used by the fraudulent billionaires to seek asylum in UK.

picture credits- hindustan times.

The UK court recently stated that there is no evidence to suggest that Nirav Modi would not receive a fair trial in India. Thus it can be rightly and cautiously stated that Nirav Modi has finally lost his nearly two-year-long legal battle against extradition on all grounds. This comes after the court maintaining that there are no human rights concerns that the medical needs of the 49-year-old would not be addressed as per several Indian government assurances.

By Shivani Khanna

A woman who believes in equal rights and aspires to inspire people through her writings. I aspire to contribute to the economic world and society with diligence and thus being an economic advisor tops my career ambitions . I currently am pursuing Economic honours ( at undergrad level) from delhi university.