Kamal Ghorui
LONDON: Fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi has applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in France for an injunction to prevent his removal to India.A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman told TOI: “Nirav Modi is due to be removed but he has lodged a rule 39 application to stay his removal to the ECtHR. We are not involved in that.”Nirav’s application to reopen his original appeal against extradition got thrown out on March 25 by the London high court, leaving the 55-year-old, accused of defrauding Punjab National Bank of over $1 billion, nowhere to turn in Britain, and Strasbourg his only option. The CBI could collect him from the UK within 28 days of March 15, but he cannot go back now whilst the Rule 39 measures are under consideration.Extradition barrister Ben Keith, of 5 St Andrew’s Hill, told TOI: “There is no hearing. It is all done in writing. It will go to a judge in the ECtHR who will usually make a decision within 48 hours. They might ask the UK govt for more information, in which case it could take longer. There is no time limit. The UK govt won’t remove him whilst an ECtHR judge is considering a Rule 39 application. They are rarely successful. You make an application to judge in writing saying your client faces an imminent risk of irreparable harm and has exhausted all domestic remedies, and then an ECtHR judge looks at the case and makes a decision.”Most Rule 39 requests are rejected. In 2025, out of 2,701 requests, only 222 were granted.Rule 39 interim measures do not decide the outcome of the case — they only seek to prevent irreversible harm while the case is ongoing.If a Rule 39 injunction is granted, then extradition is stopped and it moves to a main hearing where both sides put in full pleadings and a panel of judges decides if a human rights violation has occurred.“This can take three to five years to conclude… There are rarely in-person hearings,” Keith said.
