The request has been sent by a Special Diplomatic Bag to the High Commission of India (HCI), London for onward transmission to the UK authorities, says VK Singh
The Indian government has requested for extradition of fugitive celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi as well his uncle Mehul Choksi, wanted for a Rs 13,500 crore bank fraud, from the United Kingdom and Antigua respectively.
In the Rajya Sabha, VK Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, said, "An extradition request has been received in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the extradition of Nirav Modi from the UK."
Singh further said the request has been sent by a Special Diplomatic Bag to the High Commission of India in London seeking extradition of Nirav Modi. He said the MEA revoked the passport of Modi as per the provisions of Section 10(3)(c) of the Passports Act, 1967, on February 16, 2018. "This information was conveyed to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for onward transmission to the Interpol," he said.
On the other hand, CBI said they sent an extradition request for Mehul Choksi to MHA earlier this week. The Home Ministry has forwarded the request to MEA which further sent it to Antigua and Barbuda authorities.
CBI, in its extradition request for Mehul, has cited "principle of reciprocity", "principle of dual criminality" and "cooperation under United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)".
Also even after India had cancelled the passports of both Choksi and Modi in February, it that hasn't stopped them from travelling from one country to another.
Choksi has moved to Antigua and got a local passport. He claimed he had applied for Antiguan citizenship to expand his business as the passport of the Caribbean nation provides visa-free travel to 132 countries. He was granted citizenship in November last year.
Modi, however, is reportedly hiding in UK and holds another.
Modi left India on January 1, while his business associate and uncle Choksi did so on January 4 – much before the PNB lodged a complaint with the CBI that the duo had defrauded it. The subsequent complaints lodged by the PNB took the quantum of the scam to about Rs 14,000 crore.
‘DIPLOMATIC BAG’
The request has been sent by a Special Diplomatic Bag to the High Commission of India (HCI), London for onward transmission to the UK authorities, said VK Singh
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