The Indian authorities have submitted their legal response to the application filed by fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi seeking permission to appeal against his extradition order in the UK Supreme Court.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which appears on behalf of the Indian government in the UK courts, had until Monday to file a response in the High Court in London on the 51-year-old diamond merchant’s plea against being extradited to India to face charges in the estimated USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case.
The further appeal was filed by his lawyers last month after he lost his initial High Court appeal on mental health grounds, after a two-judge bench ruled that his risk of suicide is not such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him from Wandsworth Prison in London to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges.
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“We met the December 5 deadline,” the CPS confirmed.
The High Court in London will now make a decision on whether to grant permission to appeal “on the papers”, without a hearing. This process is likely to take some weeks and is not expected to be completed this year.
“If they refuse to certify a question and leave to appeal then that is the end of the road. If they certify a question but refuse leave, then he applies to the Supreme Court directly for permission,” the CPS has…
