Fugitive Nirav Modi, the prime accused in the multi-crore PNB scam, suffered a huge setback as the High Court in London ordered his extradition to India, dismissing his appeal on grounds of mental health. Modi, who is housed in south-east London’s Wandsworth prison, will now be tried in India on several counts including charges of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, money laundering, fraud, cheating and two charges that were added to the CBI case pertaining to the destruction of evidence and threatening several witnesses.

“…We are far from satisfied that Mr Modi’s mental condition and the risk of suicide are such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him,” the court said, as reported by news agency PTI.

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According to reports, Modi can still move Britain’s Supreme Court against the High Court’s extradition order within 14 days, with the only rider being that the High Court agrees that the case includes a point of law of general public importance. In case his options run out, Modi can also approach the European Court of Human Rights.

The diamantaire’s appeal to the High Court against District Judge Sam Goozee’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruling was accepted on grounds of mental state earlier. According to Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), the court was bound to hear Modi’s arguments on his mental condition and whether it would be “unjust or oppressive” to allow his extradition to go through. The other ground was also based upon mental health mentioned under Section 91 of the Extradition Act 2003.

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Modi is being probed by CBI and ED for his connection with the alleged Rs 28,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) case where his companies had allegedly made windfall gains following the issuance of fraudulent Letter of Undertaking (LoU) by certain bank officials. The loss reported by the PNB is estimated to be roughly around Rs 11 crore. Modi had fled the country before news of the scam broke out. The bank management kept in the dark regarding the fake LoUs for years.