HT has learned that the extradition of fugitive diamond Nirav Modi to India may be on hold due to his second asylum application.
New Delhi has won all extradition proceedings related to Modi in UK courts, but his repatriation appears to have reached a dead end, with British authorities telling their Indian counterpart that he cannot be extradited yet due to certain “secret procedures”, senior officials told HT.
London has not formally or informally shared with New Delhi the nature of these “secret procedures”, but this is the term generally used for seeking asylum.
Modi had previously submitted an asylum request in 2018, but it was rejected last year. But Indian officials are not ruling out the possibility of Modi making a fresh asylum application in the UK on humanitarian grounds – particularly by citing Sanjay Bhandari’s case and claiming that there has been a significant change in circumstances since his previous application.
Over the past year, Modi has unsuccessfully claimed in UK courts that if extradited to India, he would be “interrogated and subjected to torture and ill-treatment”. To support his arguments, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam mastermind cited the February 28, 2025 judgment of the UK Supreme Court in the Sanjay Bhandari case, which ruled that “Bhandari would be at real risk of extortion, torture or violence in Tihar Jail, from other prisoners or prison officials”, and thus refused to extradite him to India.
On March 25, the UK Supreme Court rejected Modi’s petition to reopen the extradition process, which had been ordered by the Westminster Court in London in February 2021, closing all legal doors to him. Following the decision, the imprisoned Almasy last month also applied to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg under Article 39 of the European Convention on Human Rights seeking compensation for the risks to his rights, which has not yet been heard. Indian officials said Rule 39 requests are usually rejected.
“We have reached out to our British counterparts to know the status of Nirav Modi’s repatriation. They have informed us that he cannot be extradited yet due to some secret procedures,” a senior government official said, without elaborating.
He is accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank $Rs 6,498 crore – part of the total $13,578 crore fraud, with approx $Rs 7,000 crore linked to his uncle Mehul Choksi – Modi has been in a UK prison since his arrest by Scotland Yard on March 19, 2019, on India’s extradition request.
India informed British authorities that Modi would be housed in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai. New Delhi has also given sovereign assurances to the UK courts and the government that Modi will not be questioned by any of the agencies and will face trial in court in the current case.
Modi has been declared a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. The Enforcement Directorate has seized assets worth $2,598 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act $Rs 981 crore has been recovered to the affected banks.
