Former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel claims India refused illegal migrant returns over stalled Nirav Modi extradition
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel recently claimed in a podcast that the Indian government has refused to take back illegal immigrants from the UK because
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel recently claimed in a podcast that the Indian government has refused to take back illegal immigrants from the UK because the country has still not extradited fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is still lodged in London's Pentonville prison. The comments were made by Patel on a podcast series dedicated to Modi. The podcast is called Diamond King, and is a four-part series helmed by Daily Telegraph reporters Rob Mendick and Mick Brown, who are the ones who discovered Modi living openly in London in 2019. Patel, a member of the Conservative Party, who served in the home secretary position from 2019 to 2022, had signed off on Modi's extradition in 2021. She revealed on the podcast that she is horrified with the fact that Modi continues to remain in London.
She also revealed that New Delhi was "hugely angry" about London not yet deporting Modi, and also revealed that the Indian government has "really pushed back" on taking back Indians who were staying in the UK illegally. "I had a hell of a challenge getting them [India] to sign off on receiving failed asylum seekers... and I'm convinced it's because we had this high-profile case [of Nirav Modi] and we had another high-profile case at the time and until they [India] saw action and movement on those, guess what, they had some leverage over us, which was terribly frustrating," she said. "If our system were judicious and doing the right thing, rather than tying itself up in process and excuses, he should not be in this country," Patel is also quoted as saying.
"I'm actually pretty appalled and horrified that he's still here, and I have to say, I suspect that really makes the India government feel quite demoralised about even working with us," she also said. Nirav in London The 55-year-old Nirav Modi continues to remain in London's Pentonville prison in connection with a massive $2 billion fraud of the Punjab Bank (PNB) as well as charges of money laundering filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He has also been charged with allegedly interfering with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings His extradition is being seen as imminent after Modi exhausted his legal options in the UK and also lost a last-ditch plea at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in France. "[Nirav] Modi should be in prison… in India and serving his time there, having gone through a legal process, which is exactly what UK extradition laws and treaties are about," Patel said.
The BriefWire