London: Fugitive diamond merchant trader Nirav Modi has lost his appeal to take his fight against extradition to India to the UK Supreme Court.
The path for his return to India is thus clear now as Nirav has no more legal option available. He is currently lodged at Wandsworth prison in London.
The 51-year-old businessman is wanted in India in the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. The prime accused had fled India after the scam was unearthed.
Nirav had earlier lost an appeal against extradition on mental health grounds, with the court stating that his risk of suicide was not such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering.
Last month, he filed an application before UK High Court seeking permission to appeal against his extradition to India in UK Supreme Court.
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Nirav is facing charges of defrauding PNB to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore, money laundering, destroying evidence and intimidating witnesses.
Two criminal proceedings are underway against the fugitive businessman, in connection with the PNB scam. While the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing a large-scale fraud upon PNB through fraudulently obtaining letters of undertaking (LoUs) or loan agreements, Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating laundering of the proceeds of that fraud.
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