London: Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, fighting extradition to India, is unlikely to get a fair trial there due to the politicisation of his case and he faces a "high risk of suicide" due to the lack of adequate medical facilities in Indian prisons, his legal team told a UK court on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old fugitive diamond merchant is fighting extradition charges related to the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case brought by the Indian government at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.
On the second day of Modi's five-day extradition hearing at the court, Justice Samuel Goozee was taken through official Indian prisons data, including statistics on coronavirus cases at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai where Nirav is to be held if he is extradited.
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Nirav's barrister, Clare Montgomery, also laid out her plans to depose further expert witnesses during the course of the week, including a former Indian Supreme Court judge referred to only by his last name of Katju.
"There has been a significant decline in the integrity of the justice system in India and the Nirav Modi case has been made a political issue, with no presumption made of innocence," Montgomery told the court.
She claimed that because the Nirav had been made into a "hate figure" in India, there was an "overwhelming political necessity" to condemn him and see him convicted.
She added that other defence witnesses also highlight a decline in the "standards of behaviour" of investigating agencies, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The court was told about a marked decline in Nirav's mental health at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, where stricter coronavirus curbs have meant a lack of access to inhouse counselling facilities and very limited contact with family, with only 25 minutes allowed outside his cell in July.
PTI
