India officially requests extradition of Nirav Modi

The representative of the Indian government has submitted to the British authorities the official request seeking the extradition of Nirav Modi –the Indian businessman who is accused of defrauding nearly thirteen thousand crore Indian Rupees.   

Like Vijay Mallya, he is thought to have sought a shelter in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, unlike the case of Mr Mallya, in the case of Mr Nirav, the Indian government has no idea where exactly the infamous diamond seller is presently living.

The official request for the extradition has been sent after the Indian government received the legal advice of the British authorities that it can file the extradition request in the United Kingdome even if it is not aware about the location of the person for which the request is submitted.

There are reports that a co-accused in the ‘three thousand crore Indian Rupee worth fraud case’ has brought the citizenship of a Caribbean Island. If that is the case, it will not be that easy to bring back all culprits to India.

It was during the early 90s that India inked an extradition treaty with UK. It is to be noted that since then, no one, except one person, has been extradited with the support of the treaty.

Is the UK a safe-haven for wealthy, Indian, fraudsters?    

Vignesh. S. G

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