Kamal Ghorui
TOI correspondent from London: Fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi appeared in person at the London circuit commercial court on Monday to fight another legal battle — a claim against him of over Rs 100 crore by Bank of India.He was a litigant in person until last week, but at the eleventh hour hired a barrister, Vivek Kapoor of 39 Essex Chambers. Nirav arrived 90 minutes late in a prison van dressed in a black suit and white open-neck shirt and sat in a Victorian-era dock surrounded by metal bars.The case centres around a loan Bank of India gave Nirav’s company Firestar Diamond FZE in Dubai on July 2, 2012. Originally it was for $5 million (about Rs 46 crore), increased to $15 million (close to Rs 140 crore) in 2013, and reduced to $12 million (approximately Rs 112 crore) in 2017. Nirav provided a personal guarantee on the loan dated Aug 3, 2013. As the loan was not repaid on demand when terminated in early 2018, at the time allegations of Nirav’s fraud on Punjab National Bank surfaced, on May 9, 2018 the bank filed a claim in the HC against Firestar, and on Oct 22, 2018 Nirav was added as a party to the claim.On March 8, 2024, the bank was granted summary judgment against Firestar of $8.4 million (about Rs 78 crore). This has not been paid and the two corporate guarantors are in liquidation.On Oct 2, 2025, the bank issued a letter of demand to Nirav in relation to the debt. The bank claims it also sent a demand on April 6, 2018, but Kapoor disputed his, claiming this demand was never served on Nirav, saying the Oct demand was “time-barred” under law. He also argued the guarantee was defective and no “default event” had occurred when the termination of the loan took place.The bank says Nirav now owes it in excess of $10.7 million (over Rs 100 crore), including interest.Kapoor is calling for the case to be dismissed. He said the bank’s claim is “riddled with deficiencies and flaws” and the bank was using the “media allegations of fraud allegations” as an “excuse to gloss over the flaws in the bank’s case.”Tom Beasley, representing the bank, argued that it had the right to terminate the loan as there were allegations from Jan 2018 that Nirav owed PNB over $2 billion, potentially having an adverse affect on his ability to repay their loan.
