London Court rules in Favour of Bank of India, orders Nirav Modi to pay over Rs.100 crore
The London High Court has ruled against Fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi. The London High Court has ruled in favour of Bank of India in a long-running loan recovery case. The court held Nirav Modi liable to pay more than $10.7 million, which is over Rs 100 crore at current exchange rates.
What is the case about?
The dispute is related to a loan given by Bank of India to Firestar Diamond FZE, a Dubai-based company linked to Nirav Modi. The bank argued that Modi had personally guaranteed the loan and was therefore responsible for repaying the outstanding amount.
Modi challenged the claim in the UK courts. Earlier this year, he personally appeared before the London court to contest the case.
However, the High Court ruled in favour of Bank of India and found that the bank’s claim was valid and legally enforceable. The ruling allows the bank to continue recovery proceedings through legal channels in the UK.
This decision adds to a series of legal setbacks for Nirav Modi in Britain.
In March 2026, the London High Court rejected his attempt to reopen proceedings related to his extradition to India. The decision supported earlier rulings that approved his extradition.
Modi has been in custody in the UK since his arrest in London in March 2019. British courts have rejected several of his bail applications over the years.
Nirav Modi PNB Fraud Case
The Nirav Modi–PNB fraud case is one of the biggest banking scams in India. The fraud came to light in 2018 when Punjab National Bank (PNB) found that businessman Nirav Modi and his companies had obtained loans from overseas banks using fake Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).
Some bank officials helped issue these LoUs without following proper procedures and without recording the transactions in the bank’s system. As a result, banks suffered a loss of around ₹13,000 crore. After the scam was exposed, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate started investigations, and many properties and assets linked to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi were seized.
Nirav Modi left India before the fraud was detected and was later arrested in the United Kingdom in 2019. India is continuing efforts to bring him back through the extradition process. The case led to major reforms in the banking sector, including stricter controls on international trade finance transactions.
