FUGITIVE Indian businessman Nirav Modi has lost a High Court bid to stop the sale of a luxury central London apartment linked to him, the latest in a long run of legal defeats for the jeweller as he fights extradition to India from a south-west London prison.
The flat, 103 Marathon House, can now be sold for a minimum of £3.75 million. Under an earlier order secured by India's Enforcement Directorate (ED), the proceeds will be placed in a secure account once the trust that holds the property has cleared its "pressing liabilities".
The 55-year-old is accused of involvement in a $2 billion fraud on Punjab National Bank (PNB) and of money laundering. He has been held in Britain since his arrest in March 2019.
The sale is one of the few concrete steps towards recovering assets linked to the alleged PNB fraud. For India's investigators, it keeps money tied to the case out of reach while the wider legal battle continues.
For Modi, it removes one more asset and rejects his argument that he was entitled to benefit from the trust.
What the court decided
The case was brought by Trident Trust Company (Singapore) Pte Limited, the trustee. Modi, named as the third defendant, opposed the sale, arguing he was the "true settler" of the trust and should be treated as a beneficiary.
Master James Brightwell, sitting in the Chancery Division of the High Court on Tuesday (29), gave the sale the court's approval. He said the natural starting point was that debts due should be paid, noting that the court had already ordered a sale in 2023 and agreed a lower sale price in 2024.
"The third defendant's complaints about the way in which the trustee has set out its decision do not render the decision one which a trustee could not properly reach," he said.
Modi watched the hearing by videolink from HMP Wandsworth, one of England's most overcrowded prisons.
Seven years and counting
Modi was arrested by Scotland Yard officers at a Metro Bank branch in central London after a staff member recognised him as he tried to open an account.
Since then he has lost several High Court appeals on human rights grounds, a confidential political asylum claim and a series of bail applications. In March this year, the High Court refused his attempt to reopen his extradition case.
According to reports, having exhausted other legal routes, Modi is believed to have lodged a second asylum claim in a last attempt to avoid being sent to India.
The trustee can now proceed with the sale. Attention will turn to the reported asylum claim, which could further delay any extradition, reports added.
