Nirav Modi's extradition request sent to UK: VK Singh

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs VK Singh on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that request for extradition of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi from the United Kingdom to India had been sent to the High Commission of India in London.

The request has been sent by a special diplomatic bag for onward transmission to the UK authorities.

Singh informed that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revoked Nirav Modi's passport as per the provisions of Section 10(3) (c) of the Passports Act, 1967, on February 16, adding that the same was conveyed to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for onward transmission to the Interpol.

He said, "The Ministry has no means to verify the travels, if any, of Nirav Deepak Modi and the passport used for such travels by him." Two Red Corner Notices (RCN) were issued against Modi by the Interpol in June, Singh informed.

Last week, a United States court issued summons to Nirav Modi and his aides at the heart of the multi-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. Sources say that the order also authorised gathering of documents from Modi and others.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) labeled chairman of Gitanjali Group, Mehul Choksi as the "mastermind" behind the PNB fraud case, calling it a "huge economic scam brewing since 2015."

The ED stated that Choksi adopted this modus operandi to manipulate transactions to avoid getting detected by banks or auditors, project inflated sales, and turnover, to create phony debtors in the books of Gitanjali Gems to enhance credit limits, among other objectives.

The ED had initiated the money laundering case against Choksi in February, on the basis of an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The PNB had detected the multi-crore scam earlier this year wherein Choksi and his nephew, Modi, had allegedly cheated the bank to the tune of USD 2 billion, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.