Diamantaire Nirav Modi, wanted in India in connection with the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case, has filed a fresh bail application in a London court on the grounds that he is suffering from anxiety and depression.
In his bail application, Nirav Modi urged the court to place him under house arrest. The bail application of Nirav Modi, who was arrested in London on March 19, has been rejected by the UK court four times.
Sources say according to the law in the UK, a bail application can only be filed only on new grounds by the applicant. Sources in the probe agency claim that due to lack of any new ground, Nirav Modi has played the health card to get out of jail.
To bring back Nirav Modi, who is facing extradition by the Indian investigative agencies, the probe bodies and government have stepped up efforts. The diamantaire earlier offered the court 2 million pounds in bond and to remain under 24-hour curfew and surveillance, but the court was not convinced.
Nirav Modi’s lawyers had earlier also argued that their client was accused in “a white-collar case and the rate of absconding in such cases was incredibly low [therefore Nirav Modi should get bail] but even this ground was rejected by the Westminster Court, London.
According to Indian agencies, Nirav Modi travelled on a revoked passport and even after a Red Corner Notice against him. On this ground, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains that if Modi is granted bail, he may flee the country.
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