UK court came down heavily on ex-Mumbai HC judge in Nirav Modi case

Even as the UKs Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday cleared the decks for the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi in connection with the Rs 13500 crore Punjab National Bank PNB loan fraud case District Judge Samuel Goozee came down heavily on former Mumbai High Court Judge Abhay M Thipsay saying he never disclosed his partypolitical affiliation either in the reports biography or in relation to his declaration as an expert and disclosure of any potential conflict of interestIn the 83page judgment the Westminster Magistrates Court Judge said that the extradition request for Nirav Modi is a highprofile case in India and I have no doubt that Justice Thipsay as a former High Court Judge has overseen many high profile cases in his timeHe noted He entered into the arena of giving evidence in these extradition proceedings with his eyes open to the focus and scrutiny the case would inevitably receive in India It is inevitable he could have foreseen his affiliation to the Congress party may attract interestGoozee said that having checked his report dated December 20 2019 and June 29 2020 I note that he has never disclosed his partypolitical affiliation either in the reports biography or in relation to his declaration as an expert and disclosure of any potential conflict of interestsHowever Justice Thipsay is a retired High Court Judge in India giving evidence as an expert in this extradition request on behalf of NDM Nirav Modi He is aware of the nature and interest in these proceedings He would equally be aware of his own political connections to the Congress which it transpires he joined after his retirement it saidGoozee went on to say Justice Thipsay refused to give live evidence when the extradition hearing resumed Justice Thipsay is a retired judge who has aligned himself to a political party on his retirement and received adverse commentary in the mediaHowever he also engaged and courted with the media himself His additional reports and opinions subsequently submitted by the defence have not been subject to scrutiny His unwillingness to give further evidence in these proceedings simply because he did not get the protections which in my view there was no sound basis to grant meant his opinion went unchallenged by the government of IndiaThere has been no ability for the Court to further scrutinise his expert testimony Overall these factors have the effect in my assessment of nullifying any weight I would have attached to his evidenceReferring to a press conference by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Goozee said Following giving evidence on May 13 2020 the Indian Law Minister held a press conference During the press conference the Law Minster made reference to Justice Thipsays evidence in these extradition proceedings The Minister said he is a retired judge from the Mumbai High Court and around 10 months before his retirement the Supreme Court transferred him to Allahabad High Court due to administrative reasons that tells its own storyThe Minister also comments that Justice Thipsays evidence was directed by the opposition party in India the Congress Party a Congress member who is a judge a retired judge give testimony in Nirav Modis defence the situation is so suspicious that based on it we can conclude that the Congress Party is repeatedly trying to save Nirav Modi He also comments that Justice Tipsays evidence was legally unsustainableThe Judge said I was referred to extensive material regarding the media attention to the governments comments about Justice Thipsays evidenceHaving considered the transcript of the press conference it was clear in my view that it was a press conference given purely in a political context albeit as the Minister of Justice in the context of the BJP party making political commentary about the Congress party That in turn unsurprisingly garnered significant attention and headlines within the media and in social media platformsIt was commentary which Justice Thipsay also was interviewed about himself on television in the period between the first part of these extradition hearing and the resumption of the hearing in September Unwise political commentary maybe but an equally unwise decision to have engaged with the media himself while these proceeding were sub judiceIn a major setback to Nirav Modi the UK court on Thursday ordered his extradition in connection with the Rs 13500 crore PNB loan fraud case after almost a twoyear long legal battleAccepting the prima facie evidence against Nirav Modi Goozee said I am satisfied that Nirav Modis extradition to India is in compliance per human rightsThe District Judge also said that Nirav Modi had the right to appeal the order There is no evidence that if extradited Nirav Modi will not get justice the judge saidNirav Modi was arrested on an extradition warrant on March 19 2019 on charges of money laundering conspiring to destroy evidence and intimidating witnessesNirav Modi is facing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI for a largescale fraud upon PNB through fraudulently obtaining LoUs or loan agreements He is also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate ED in a case relating to the laundering of the proceeds of that fraudMeanwhile he also faces two additional charges of causing disappearance of evidence and intimidating witnesses or criminal intimidation to cause death which were added on to the CBI caseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever