Nirav Modi’s UK high court plea to reopen extradition appeal delayed until March 2026
Lord Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Judge Robert Jay, who presided over the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, began by referring to a “sense of deja vu” over the 54-year-old businessman’s previously unsuccessful appeal against extradition to face fraud and money laundering charges in India.
It was also revealed in court that the “secret process” to legally block the extradition of what was believed to be an unapproved asylum application heard separately had likely failed in August.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represented the Indian government in court in the estimated US$2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case, argued that the application to reopen the extradition appeal was made “necessary and urgent”, a few days after the final conclusion of the “secret procedure”.
“We’re not much happier than you,” Judge Stuart-Smith said, setting a firm timetable of mid-February 2026 for applications ahead of the next appeal hearing.
CPS barrister Helen Malcolm KC pointed out in court four officials from India for this week’s hearing; two represent the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and two come from the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“We appreciate that this (delay) is extremely frustrating and distressing,” the judge said. Appearing via video link from Pentonville prison in north London, Modi could be seen taking notes as the two-judge panel concluded the case would now progress to a “convened hearing” to determine whether the appeal should be allowed to reopen.
If rejected during the two-day trial expected in March-April 2026, the decks are expected to be cleared immediately for Modi’s extradition, which will be held at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai ahead of his trial in India.
His latest appeal relies heavily on the extradition case of defense industry consultant Sanjay Bhandari, who was accused of tax evasion and money laundering and was released from extradition bail on human rights grounds earlier this year, according to court documents.
The CPS objected to the reopening of the appeal on the grounds that it had not been lodged “as soon as possible” under the relevant law, and rejected the applicability of the Bhandari case given the “state safeguards” already in place in the Modi case.
It was also claimed that the application was made on a “wrong basis” and that none of the mentioned Indian organizations could question the diamond.
“Another sovereign assurance in this direction is provided by the GOI [government of India]” it was said to the court.
But Modi’s lawyers, led by lawyer Edward Fitzgerald KC, argued that the Indian government’s latest assurances “are not sufficient or credible to meet the actual risk of torture or inhumane treatment” by Indian authorities.
“The assurance of the CBI and ED that Mr Modi will not be interrogated by these bodies is based on the words of the bodies found in Bhandari… he is involved in the ‘common ground and endemic practice of prohibited treatment to extract confessions’,” they said in their note submitted to the court.
They asked for more time for Indian legal experts, including a retired judge, to respond to “significant” government assurances they received last week.
Meanwhile, the Indian side noted the “significant history” of the matter, with the case being heard in UK courts for “less than six years” since Nirav Modi’s arrest in March 2019.
There are three sets of criminal cases against him in India: CBI’s PNB scam case, ED case regarding alleged laundering of proceeds from this scam, and a third criminal case involving alleged tampering with evidence and witnesses in CBI cases.
In April 2021, the then UK home secretary Priti Patel had ordered his extradition to face these charges in Indian courts after a prima facie case was made against him. Since then, Modi has continued to make several unsuccessful bail applications, as well as appeals in the UK courts.
