UK Court To Hear PNB Scam Accused Nirav Modi’s Fresh Bail Plea Today

It’s been more than a year but PNB scam accused Nirav Modi, who absconded days before the state-run lender publically admitted fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs), is yet to be brought back home to face the law. Lodged at Wandsworth prison since March this year, the fugitive diamantaire, who is fighting extradition to India on charges of PNB scam, has once again filed a plea at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

The court will hear his plea, the grounds of which can’t be made public until the hearing, on Wednesday November 6. Modi is likely to be produced before the court where he will make another attempt to get bail until his trial in May next year.

“The bail application is at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday November 6. The grounds cannot be made public until the hearing,” said a spokesperson for the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represents the Indian government in the extradition proceedings in court.

Modi has reportedly claimed anxiety and depression in his latest application, with earlier bail applications at the court being rejected by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, and then also on appeal at the High Court in London, as he was deemed a flight risk.

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His legal team has previously described their client's experience in prison as “damaging” and offered stringent electronic tag and other conditions akin to house arrest at his posh Centrepoint apartment in the West End of London in an attempt to persuade the judge to grant bail.

Modi has been behind bars at Wandsworth prison since his arrest on March 19 on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on charges brought by the Indian government.  During subsequent hearings, Westminster Magistrates' Court was told that Modi was the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud the state-run lender and then laundering the proceeds of crime.

(With PTI inputs)