New Delhi: Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat has reportedly ordered the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Lalit Modi, the fugitive businessman, reports claimed. This comes days after former Indian Premier League (IPL) founder applied for surrendering his Indian passport at the High Commission in London.
The development comes following recent revelations in international media that the former IPL chief is wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies in connection with his alleged involved in embezzlement of crores of rupees during his stint as the top boss of the IPL, the News 18 reported.
“I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Mr Lalit Modi following recent revelations in international media,” an official media release by the Republic of Vanuatu stated, as reported by News 18.
“I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ requests to issue an alert notice on Mr Lalit Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Mr Modi’s citizenship application,” it read.
According to reports quoting sources, Neeta Bhushan – India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand, along with a few other island nations, played a key role in getting his Vanuatu passport cancelled.
The fugitive businessman had filed an application with the Indian high commission in London to surrender his Indian passport. According to reports, the Ministry of External Affairs in India has confirmed such claims. Modi is learnt to have acquired citizenship of Vanuatu, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. This island nation is known for its Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) programme.
