UK court defers Nirav Modi plea to reopen extradition appeal until March 2026

New Delhi,UPDATED: Dec 17, 2025 00:57 IST

Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi's bid to reopen his extradition appeal in the UK High Court has been deferred until March 2026 after Indian officials submitted fresh assurances on his detention conditions. The matter came up on Tuesday before Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, reported PTI.

At the outset, the judges remarked on a "sense of deja vu", noting that Nirav Modi's earlier efforts to block extradition to India had already failed.

The adjournment followed what the court described as "chunky assurances" submitted by Indian authorities concerning the 54-year-old businessman's treatment if extradited, particularly during pre-trial detention at Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), appearing on behalf of the Indian government in connection with the estimated $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case, argued that the renewed application to reopen the appeal arose only days after the conclusion of a separate and confidential legal process.

It emerged during the hearing that this "confidential process", believed to involve an unconfirmed asylum application forming a legal bar to extradition, had likely failed in August. The CPS described the current application as "necessary and urgent" in light of that outcome.

"We are not much happier than you," Lord Justice Stuart-Smith observed, as the bench laid down a firm timetable, setting mid-February 2026 as the deadline for written submissions ahead of the next hearing.

COURT SETS ROLLED-UP HEARING

The 54-year-old businessman appeared via videolink from Pentonville prison in north London and was seen taking notes as the judges ruled that the case would proceed to a "rolled up hearing". That hearing will determine whether permission to reopen the appeal should be granted.

If permission is refused during the two-day hearing, expected to take place in March or April 2026, the court indicated that Modi's extradition could proceed without further delay.

"If it is denied," the court was told, "the decks are expected to be cleared right away" for his transfer to India to face trial.

CPS barrister Helen Malcolm KC also pointed out that four Indian officials -- two from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and two from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) -- had travelled from India to attend the hearing in London.

"We appreciate this (delay) is profoundly depressing and upsetting," Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said.

DEFENCE CITES BHANDARI CASE

According to court documents, Nirav Modi's latest legal push relies heavily on the extradition case of defence consultant Sanjay Bhandari, who was discharged from extradition bail earlier this year on human rights grounds.

The CPS opposed the reopening of the appeal, arguing that it had not been made "as soon as practicable" under the law and that the Bhandari ruling was not applicable to Modi's case due to the "sovereign assurances" already provided by India.

Prosecutors also submitted that the application was brought on a "false basis", asserting that none of the Indian agencies cited would interrogate him. "A further sovereign assurance to that effect is provided by the GOI (government of India)," the court was told.

Nirav Modi's legal team, led by barrister Edward Fitzgerald KC, strongly contested the adequacy of the Indian government's assurances.

"The assurance from the CBI and ED that Mr Modi will not be interrogated by those bodies relies on the word of the very bodies that were found in Bhandari to be involved in the ‘common place and endemic practice of proscribed treatment to obtain confessions'," their submissions stated.

The defence sought additional time for Indian law experts, including a retired judge, to respond to the "substantial" assurances submitted by India last week.

LONG-RUNNING CASE

The Indian side stressed the "considerable history" of the case, which has been moving through the UK courts for nearly six years since Modi's arrest in March 2019.

Nirav Modi faces three sets of criminal proceedings in India: a CBI case linked to the PNB fraud, an ED case concerning the alleged laundering of proceeds from that fraud, and a third case involving alleged interference with evidence and witnesses.

In April 2021, then UK home secretary Priti Patel ordered Nirav Modi's extradition after UK courts found a prima facie case against him. Since then, he has filed multiple unsuccessful bail applications and appeals, prolonging one of the most closely watched extradition battles involving an Indian economic offender.

- Ends

With inputs from agencies