ED clarifies on action taken against Nirav Modi

The probing agency's clarification comes following criticism of the probing agency for not acting on report that Nirav Modi was in UK.

Terming the media reports as insinuating and bereft of knowledge of law and procedure, the investigation agency said that it had been wrongly reported that the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had confirmed to Indian Authorities by March, 2018 that Nirav Modi was in UK.

The fact was evident from the reply received from UK National Central Bureau at Manchester, a nodal agency there for matters relating to Red Corner Notice (RCN)) in June, 2018 in response to ED’s request for publication of RCN against Nirav Modi wherein NCB - Manchester had requested Indian authorities to provide them with intelligence suggesting that Nirav Modi was in UK, the investigation agency said.

“It is relevant to state that, contrary to what has been reported in the media, the consistent stand of the UK government regarding execution of warrant was that Non-bailable Warrant (NBW) can only be executed through an extradition request and not through any Letter Rogatory (LR) sent under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)”, the agency clarified.

Further, as per laid down rules, procedures, the ‘Extradition Request’ can only be sent after filing of prosecution complaint (charge sheet) by enforcement agency before the competent court, cognizance thereof by the court and issuance of open ended NBW against the accused person.

Therefore, an extradition request cannot be sent at the stage of investigation. Accordingly, upon initiation of investigations by ED, the agency further stated.

Investigations by the probing agency under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on February 14, 2018 against Nirav Modi and others, the first Non- Bailable Warrant issued on March 5, 2018 was not acted upon by UK government because of non-completion of investigation. Thereafter, upon completion of part investigations by the directorate, a prosecution complaint was filed on May 24, 2018 before the designated PMLA court and a fresh open ended was issued on June 2, 2018 by the court after taking cognizance of the prosecution complaint filed by investigation agency.

Simultaneously, a request was made by ED to the National Central Bureau-India (NCB-India), which functions under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), for publication of Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Nirav Modi.

On the basis of the said request, the RCN was published on June 29, 2018 by Interpol against Nirav Modi. Thereafter request for extradition of Nirav Modi was sent to UK government on July 31, 2018.

The ED further stated that as part of on-going PMLA investigations, it had also sent request under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to the UK authorities on March 17, 2018 for collection of relevant documents and other details.

A supplementary MLAT request was earlier sent to the UK Authorities on March 3, 2018 for execution of Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) issued under PMLA as regards the assets located in UK.

In response to these MLAT requests, the UK Authorities had raised queries from time to time which were promptly examined and detailed replies were sent by ED to the UK authorities. These MLAT requests are yet to be executed by the UK authorities, the agency said.

"In view of the above, it appears that the news articles published regarding the legal issues is contrary to the facts and established international protocols and procedures," the investigation agency further said.

"Therefore, it is reiterated that ED has been proactively following up all the issues relating to the Nirav Modi case with authorities of various countries including UK. The directorate has also been making necessary efforts for successful extradition of Nirav Modi," the probe agency commented.