india

Updated: Nov 07, 2019 09:19 IST

Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi was denied bail for the fifth time on Wednesday despite his legal team doubling

its offer to furnish a security deposit in the range of £2 million to £4 million and to obey stringent restrictions, including 24-hour monitoring and other curbs usually imposed on terror suspects on bail.

Emma Arbuthnot, chief magistrate in the Westminster Magistrates Court, was not impressed by the arguments offered by Modi’s legal team, and said the grounds on which she and the high court had previously refused him bail remained. These include his potential to abscond if granted bail, and also to influence witnesses and destroy evidence.

Hugo Keith, Modi’s lawyer, highlighted difficult conditions in the Wandsworth jail where his client has been lodged after being arrested earlier this year. These include assault (one on April 11 and another on Tuesday) and threats from inmates, besides being confined in a cell 22 hours a day. He denied the possibility of Modi absconding if granted bail.

Keith described the‘bail package offered as unprecedented: £4 million security deposit, wearing an electronic tag, constant surveillance of phones and movement, and restricted use of the internet. He also mentioned Modi’s medical condition and the difficulty in procuring medicines.

James Lewis of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appearing for the Indian government insisted that there had been no change in material circumstances to consider the bail application since its denial on previous four occasions. The raising of the security deposit from £50,000 to £1 million, to £ 2 million and now £ 4 million showed Modi’s access to large funds, he told Arbuthnot.

The alleged leak of Nirav Modi’s medical report figured prominently during his bail hearing. The judge said: “It is very unfortunate that the report has been leaked. It will undermine the trustworthiness of the government of India if it were proved that they were responsible.”. Lewis denied that the report was leaked by the CPS.

The level of surveillance offered by Modi’s team is not enough to ensure that he will not abscond, Lewis told the judge, adding that if the jeweller were to go to Belgium and acquire its passport, “that would be the end of the matter”, since Belgium is one of the countries that does not extradite its citizens.

His legal team, Keith added, was facing difficulties in preparing for the extradition trial due to be held early next year. Russian, American and British individuals facing equal or more serious allegations than Modi had been granted bail, he noted .