Priti Patel Says India ‘Hugely Angry’ Over Delay in Nirav Modi Extradition

LONDON - Former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has criticised Britain’s prolonged failure to extradite fugitive diamond magnate Nirav Modi to India, saying the Indian government is “hugely angry” over the delay and that it has damaged cooperation between the two countries. Patel, who signed Modi’s extradition order in 2021 and is now the Conservative Party’s shadow foreign secretary, made the remarks on The Daily Telegraph’s podcast series “The Diamond King.”

What Patel said

Patel said she was appalled that Modi remains in the United Kingdom despite her having approved his extradition more than four years ago, describing the drawn-out proceedings as an abuse of Britain’s judicial system. In her account, the case ought to have been exactly the kind of matter that extradition treaties are designed to resolve, and Modi should already be in India facing trial. She argued that the British system had tied itself up in process and delay rather than delivering a timely outcome.

Crucially, Patel linked the stalled case to wider friction in the bilateral relationship. She claimed India’s frustration has significantly affected cooperation between the two governments — including, she suggested, on the return of illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers — casting the long-running legal saga as a diplomatic irritant rather than a purely judicial one.

Who is Nirav Modi, and what is he accused of?

Nirav Modi, 55, is a celebrity jeweller once ranked among India’s wealthiest people, whose clients spanned Hollywood and Bollywood. He is wanted in India in connection with an estimated $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB), one of the country’s largest state-run lenders, allegedly carried out through fraudulent letters of undertaking. He faces three sets of proceedings: the Central Bureau of Investigation’s fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate’s money-laundering investigation, and separate allegations of tampering with evidence and intimidating witnesses. He has denied wrongdoing.

A long road through the courts

Modi fled India in early 2018 and was arrested in London in March 2019, and he has remained in custody in Britain since. In February 2021, a district judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruled that he had a case to answer in India and cleared the way for his extradition, rejecting arguments that he would not receive a fair trial. Patel approved the order that April. In the years since, a series of appeals — including on mental-health grounds — has kept him in the UK, leaving the extradition unresolved even as the courts, rather than ministers, now drive the timetable.

Timeline: the Nirav Modi extradition case

A recurring strain on relations

Patel’s intervention underscores how the Modi case has become a persistent point of tension between New Delhi and London, at a time when both governments have sought closer ties on trade, migration and security. Her characterisation of India’s stance is that of an opposition politician and cannot be independently confirmed as the Indian government’s official position. Modi’s legal team has consistently contested his extradition, and the matter continues to move through Britain’s courts.