UK court to hear Nirav Modi's extradition plea on June 28

PTI

London, May 2

The continuation appeal hearing in the extradition case of Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, is listed to be heard in the High Court in London on June 28.

The 51-year-old diamond merchant had lodged an appeal against his extradition order on mental health grounds. “The hearing is listed for June 28,” confirmed the Royal Courts of Justice administrative office last week.

Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay presided over an initial hearing at the court in December last year to determine whether District Judge Sam Goozee’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruling from February 2021 in favour of extradition was incorrect to overlook the diamond merchant’s “high risk of suicide”.

The hearing next month is for the continuation of that appeal. According to officials familiar with the case, the Indian Government has given assurances about the conditions in which Nirav will be detained if surrendered to India and the facilities that will be available to care for his “physical and mental health”.

At the forthcoming hearing in June, both sides will be making submissions on whether those assurances are sufficient and can be relied upon.

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