Fugitive Nirav Modi will be in judicial custody till September 19. Judge Tan Ikram said that the date for his extradition trial will be confirmed when Modi appears for the next hearing through video link from his London jail.
London: Fugitive Nirav Modi, who is wanted in relation with the $2 billion PNB fraud case has been remanded in judicial custody till September 19. His extradition trial is likely to begin on May 11, 2020.
Judge Tan Ikram presided over the hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court. Modi attended the routine cal-over hearing via video link from his London prison on Thursday.
Judge Tan Ikram asked Modi to appear before the court through video link on September 19 and the dates of his extradition trial will be confirmed then. He said the proposed five-day extradition trial dates would start on May 11, 2020. Ahead of trial, a case management hearing is likely to be held in February 2020.
Modi is in Wandsworth prison in south-west London since his arrest in March following an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard.
The last hearing was presided over by chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot. She had said she expected to receive all the evidence and skeleton argument bundles in the case by April 8, with a five-day hearing then is expected to be slotted in May next year.
Modi is expected to be produced before the court every four weeks as per UK law.
The court had rejected Modi's bail plea multiple times. It was rejected the fourth time by the UK high court in the last month.
In her judgment handed down at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Justice Ingrid Simler had concluded that Modi has the means to abscond and thus there were chances of him failing to surrender.
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