Alleging unfair trial in India, Justice Markandey Katju to testify Nirav Modi in UK court

Indian jurist and former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju is set to testify on Friday as a witness in a London court against extrition of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi.

While Justice Katju will t talk about merits of criminal case against Modi, he will oppose Indian government’s plea seeking his extrition on grounds that Modi may t receive a “free and fair trial in India.” As per reports, Katju has reasoned that Modi has alrey been subjected to a “media trial” in India and that environment here was hostile.

former SC judge also questioned how will Indian courts exercise impartiality in Nirav Modi’s case when Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Pras h alrey declared him guilty.

49-year-old fugitive diamond merchant is fighting extrition charges related to estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case brought by Indian government at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. Nirav Modi was arrested by Scotland Yard officers in London on 19 March 2019 on behalf of Indian authorities.

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Nirav Modi faces five-day extrition trial

Modi's extrition case brought by Indian government opened for a five-day hearing in a UK court on Monday. He appeared via a video link dressed in a dark suit and sporting beard as second leg of trial got underway at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Modi’s team sought to counter allegations of fraud by deposing witnesses to establish volatility of gems tre and that LoUs were standard practice. On second day of trial, Nirav Modi’s legal team alleged that he is unlikely to get a fair trial in India due to politicisation of his case and diamond merchant faces a "high risk of suicide" due to lack of equate medical facilities in Indian prisons.

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court was told about a “marked decline” in his 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.

Modi is subject to two sets of criminal proceedings, first brought by CBI relating to a large-scale fraud said to have been committed upon PNB and ED case, relating to laundering of proceeds of that fraud.

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