Nirav Modi Jailed: Unlike Mallya, fugitive billionaire to be extradited to India sooner, here's why

Nirav Modi, the prime accused of India’s biggest banking scam, will be extradited to India much sooner and won’t be delayed like absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya. According to a report, India will be able to bring back Modi within six months. And unlike Mallya, Modi can’t argue on the grounds of ‘human rights’ and political motivation. 

A report in Times of India on Thursday said that since the UK Courts had struck down the ‘human rights’ issue in Mallya’s hearing, it would give advantage to the India probe agencies. The report also said that the extensive and water-tight investigation papers by Indian agencies show enough proofs to meet the ‘dual criminality’ clause, which is required in the UK courts while dealing such cases.

From the fake Letters of Intent to bank transfers, the chargesheets by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have detailed account of Modi’s modus operandi. The agencies have already seized the diamantaire’s properties in India worth Rs 1,873 crore.

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The fugitive diamantaire, who was arrested in London in Rs 13,000-crore PNB scam case on Wednesday, told the Westminster Magistrates' Court that he is currently employed by Diamond Holdings Ltd the UK capital for a monthly salary of 20,000 pounds (more than Rs 18 lakh) and pays his council tax regularly. The court was told that Modi arrived in London in January 2018 before any of the allegations emerged and has maintained a very "visible" presence and offered to cooperate with the UK authorities since his arrival.

The diamantaire also showed salary slips of 20,000 pounds and his National Insurance (NI) number as proof that he was paying tax.

The court on Wednesday remanded Modi in custody till March 29, saying there are "substantial grounds" to believe that he would fail to surrender if granted bail.

Modi was produced before the Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, where he contested his extradition to India.

District Judge Marie Mallon, presiding over the hearing, said she was not inclined to accept Modi's bail plea due the "high value amount" attached to the allegations against him and that he would have "every incentive" to evade surrendering before the court.

"There are substantial grounds to believe that you would fail to surrender before the court if bail were to be granted," the judge said and remanded Modi in custody till next hearing on March 29.

He is likely to be held in a separate cell in Her Majesty's Prison Wandsworth, which is one of the largest prisons in western Europe.

Modi, dressed in a plain white shirt and trousers, appeared in the dock where he spoke only to confirm his name and also to formally decline consent to be extradited to India.