London court orders Nirav Modi to pay Bank of India Rs 100 crore
Judge Simon Tinkler, ruling at London’s Environmental Commercial Court, said Modi was liable under a personal guarantee he signed for a loan given to one of his companies. “Mr. Modi is liable to the bank under the personal guarantee for the principal amount of $4.1 million. Interest calculated on the basis determined by the bank will be added. Mr. Modi has not presented any defense explaining why the bank is not entitled to this amount,” Tinkler said.
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Bank of India had given a loan to Firestar Diamond FZE, a Dubai-based company owned by Modi, in July 2012. Modi signed a personal guarantee for the loan on August 3, 2013.
When an allegation of fraud involving Modi emerged at Punjab National Bank (PNB) in early 2018, Bank of India moved to recover the loan. Requests sent to Firestar Diamond and Modi in March and April 2018 went unanswered.
In an email dated February 17, 2018, Modi wrote to the bank acknowledging the crisis. “The media frenzy led to immediate search and seizure of operations, which resulted in Firestar International Pvt Ltd and Firestar Diamond International Pvt Ltd effectively ceasing to operate. This jeopardized our ability to pay the group’s dues to banks,” he wrote.
The court had granted summary judgment on March 8, 2024, granting Bank of India principal amount of $4.1 million plus interest. The bank then made another request to Modi in October 2025. At the hearing, Modi objected to the case on three grounds: that the personal guarantee was unenforceable, that he had not received valid requests from the bank, and that no material adverse effects had emerged that would justify termination of the loan. The court rejected all three claims.
Asked whether Modi had received the bank’s demands, Tinkler said he was satisfied that both the April 2018 and October 2025 demands had been met. The court noted that the October 2025 request was also sent to HMP Thameside prison in London, where Modi is currently based, and that Modi personally provided a copy of the April 2018 request to his lawyers in 2019.
“From mid-February 2018, it was reasonable to infer that the debtor and every company in the Firestar Group was likely to be materially and adversely affected by the alleged PNB fraud,” the judge said, adding that “the value of the guarantees provided by Mr Modi was likely to have been substantially impaired.”
Nirav Modi, 49, has been detained in the UK since his arrest in London in March 2019 in connection with the PNB scam case. He is accused of using unauthorized Letters of Commitment to obtain loans from overseas branches of Indian banks. The UK High Court rejected his appeal to restart extradition proceedings in March 2026, paving the way for his return to India. Tuesday’s decision is a separate civil suit filed by Bank of India for recovery of dues under personal guarantee.
