Former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel claims India rejected returns of illegal migrants due to Nirav Modi’s extradition stay | Today’s news
Former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has said in a podcast that the Indian government has refused to take back illegal immigrants from the UK. She said it was because Britain had still not extradited fugitive diamond magnate Nirav Modi, who remains lodged in London’s Pentonville prison.
Patel made the comments in Diamond King, a four-part podcast series on the rise and fall of Modi, due out on July 31. The podcast is hosted by Daily Telegraph reporters Rob Mendick and Mick Brown, who first discovered Modi living openly in London in 2019.
Patel, a member of the Conservative Party who served as home secretary from 2019 to 2022, signed Modi’s release in 2021. She revealed in the podcast that she is dismayed that Modi continues to stay in London. She also revealed that New Delhi was “hugely upset” that London had not yet deported Modi, and revealed that the Indian government had “really pushed” to take back Indians who were in the UK illegally.
“I had a hell of a time getting them (India) to sign off on accepting failed asylum seekers … and I believe it’s because we had this high-profile case (Nirav Modi) and at the time we had another high-profile case and until (India) saw action and movement on those, guess what, they had some leverage on us, which was terribly frustrating.”
“If our system was judicious and did the right thing, instead of getting bogged down by process and excuses, it shouldn’t be in this country,” Patel also said. “I’m actually quite appalled and horrified that he’s still here, and I have to say that I suspect the Indian government is feeling quite demoralized about it, if they’re working with us at all,” she also said.
Nirav Modi in London
Modi, 55, remains in London’s Pentonville jail in connection with the massive $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering charges brought against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He was also accused of allegedly tampering with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings.
His extradition is believed to be imminent after Modi exhausted his legal options in the UK and also lost a final appeal at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in France.
“(Nirav) Modi should be in jail … in India, serving his time there after going through the legal process, which is exactly what UK extradition laws and treaties are all about,” Patel said.
“It’s a flagrant abuse of our system. I mean, that’s the only way to describe it. It really is. And you know, it’s also an insult to the British taxpayer,” she added.
Many of the delays in Modi’s extradition have occurred due to a series of Supreme Court appeals on human rights grounds, as well as a concurrent, confidential application for political asylum. It was after being denied political asylum that Modi tried to reopen his extradition case, which was also dismissed by the English High Court in March 2026.
