Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: A team comprising CBI officials and legal experts is learnt to have reached London in connection with the final formalities in the Nirav Modi case. Sources said the team had gone there for discussions with the counsels as the fugitive diamantaire has exhausted all his legal options in the UK.The move comes in the aftermath of his petition to reopen proceedings against his extradition order by UK courts getting rejected by the high court of justice, King’s bench division, London.Sources said the team will also hold discussions regarding a petition he has filed in France seeking help from the European Court of Human Rights which has marked the case as confidential. The hearing in Strasbourg may take place mid-April in presence of Indian side.The developments indicated that his extradition was now imminent from the prison in the UK. In March- end, the reopening application was strongly argued by the crown prosecution service advocate, assisted by a special CBI team, including investigating officers who had travelled to London for the hearing.The high court had observed that the re-open petition and the circumstances surrounding it were not exceptional so as to make it appropriate to re-open it.CBI has been seeking Nirav’s extradition in connection with PNB scam to the tune of Rs 6,400 crore. Following his arrest in the UK in 2019, courts approved his extradition and rejected earlier appeals.
