Nirav Modi has been granted permission to appeal against his extradition from the UK to India to face charges in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case on mental health grounds, reports said on Monday. UK high court Judge Martin Chamberlain ruled that an appeal looking at the consequences to Nirav Modi’s state of mind is “reasonably arguable”. In June, the UK high court turned down Nirav Modi’s appeal against his extradition to India.
The Westminster Magistrates’ Court cleared Nirav Modi’s extradition in February this year and found him guilty of fraud and money laundering in the PNB fraud. The court also dismissed his claims that he wouldn’t get a fair trial in India. UK home secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition in April.
Nirav Modi then approached the UK high court to ascertain if there were any grounds for an appeal against Patel’s decision or the Westminster Magistrates’ Court order. Modi’s appeal was rejected by a high court judge.
According to ANI, Nirav Modi’s lawyer in an application to the UK high court last month to appeal against his extradition said it would seriously impact his mental health and would worsen “suicidal feelings”. Edward Fitzgerald said Modi was “severely depressed” and asked that the extradition be blocked on mental health grounds, the news agency added.
Fitzgerald said in the application that Modi’s mental health and suicidal feelings would worsen if he were to land in Mumbai’s “Covid-rich” Arthur Road Jail. The lawyer that it would be “oppressive” to extradite the 50-year-old Nirav Modi.
England’s Crown Prosecution Service, which is representing the Indian government in the case, dismissed Modi’s concerns and asked the judge to throw out the appeal.
Modi has been accused of defrauding the state-owned PNB of more than $2 billion and has also been charged by the Indian government with witness intimidation and destruction of evidence.
The 50-year-old businessman has been at the Wandsworth Prison in southwest London since March 2019, when he was arrested on the basis of India’s extradition request. 