India welcomes UK court ruling rejecting Nirav Modi's appeal against extradition

New Delhi, Nov 10: India on Thursday welcomed a British court's ruling rejecting fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's appeal against his extradition to India in connection with a bank loan fraud case.

"We welcome the UK high court's decision to dismiss the appeal against extradition of Nirav Modi," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

"We will continue with our efforts to get Nirav Modi back as well as other economic offenders so that they are brought to justice," he said.

The spokesperson said India has been vigorously pursuing the extradition of economic fugitives so that they face the legal process in the country.

Nirav Modi is wanted for Rs 6,805 crore fraud in Punjab National Bank. The fugitive businessman on Wednesday lost his appeal against extradition to India on mental health grounds as the High Court ruled that his risk of suicide is not such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him to face charges of fraud and money laundering.

Modi, 51, has the option of further appeals in the UK and European courts and the process to bring him back to stand trial in India is unlikely to be a speedy one.

"Pulling these various strands together and weighing them in the balance so as to reach an overall evaluative judgment on the question raised by Section 91, we are far from satisfied that Modi's mental condition and the risk of suicide are such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him," states the ruling.

Bagchi also referred to another UK court recently ordering the extradition of fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari to India.

"The case of Sanjay Bhandari is also a similar one where we have seen another court giving a decision in favour of extraditing him to India. This is usually a lengthy process. But we will continue our efforts in this regard so that economic fugitives are brought back to India to face our justice system," he said.

"It is a positive ruling. We are keeping an eye on the case. Our efforts will continue to bring the economic fugitives," Bagchi said.

To a separate question on whether there will be an annual India-Russia summit, Bagchi said no details are available at this point.