United Kingdom's Home Secretary Priti Patel on April 16 has approved the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, news agency ANI quoted a CBI official.
The latest development arrives ahead of United Kingdom's Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s India visit.
However, Modi still has the option of challenging his extradition to India in a higher court. He now has 14 days to make an application for leave to appeal to the higher court.
Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi has been accused of being the principal beneficiary of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking for defrauding the Punjab National Bank to the extent of Rs 13,570 crore.
Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi all coming back to face law: Nirmala Sitharaman
The celebrity jeweller has been in the Wandsworth Prison since he was arrested on March 19, 2019 from a metro station in London on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard and his attempts at seeking bail have been repeatedly turned down.
Earlier on February 25, while announcing the verdict District Judge Samuel Goozee expressed satisfaction that Nirav Modi could be convicted and rejected other arguments made by the defence counsel.
The judge noted Modi was not involved in a legitimate business as the Letters of Understanding -- that were issued between 2011 and 2017 -- were done without being entered in the CBS system of the PNB to mislead authorities.
Meanwhile in March, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that fugitive businessmen Vijaya Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are "coming back" to India" to face the law. The government is pursuing extradition of Mallya and Modi from the UK while Choksi is believed to be in Antigua, said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a debate on the insurance amendment bill.
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