Overview
- Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi has exhausted his judicial options after an application to the European Court of Human Rights failed, removing the last legal obstacle to extradition.
- UK authorities have begun the administrative formalities needed to hand Modi over to India while he remains in custody at HMP Wandsworth, and his transfer could occur at short notice.
- Indian agencies Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate will seek to prosecute Modi for the alleged Punjab National Bank fraud and related money laundering once he is returned.
- Separately, a London commercial court found Modi personally liable for more than USD 11.5 million to Bank of India under a guarantee, creating immediate civil enforcement exposure in the UK.
- The courts based their decision on diplomatic assurances from India that, the judges said, remove any real risk under Article 3; this outcome tightens legal pathways for extradition but raises focus on how those assurances will be enforced in practice.