Shouldn't "Pick Holes" In Assurances By India: UK Court In Nirav Modi Case

"The government of India assurances should be read reasonably benignly and one should not pick every possible hole in them," Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith said.

India is a "friendly foreign power" and the UK must honour its extradition treaty obligations by not picking holes in the government's assurances that Nirav Modi will be provided with adequate medical care at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai while on trial for fraud and money laundering, the High Court in London said on Wednesday.

On the second day of an appeal hearing being pursued by the 51-year-old diamond merchant against being extradited to face the Indian courts in the estimated $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case, a two-judge panel continued to hear arguments that Nirav poses a high risk of suicide due to his depressive state.

His defence team claimed that his depression would worsen if sent to the "hostile environment" of India, where politicians have "demonised" him by pre-judging his guilt, the press has been "vitriolic" and the public has "burnt his effigies".

"The government of India assurances should be read reasonably benignly and one should not pick every possible hole in them," Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith told defence barrister Edward Fitzgerald.