Vanuatu Prime Minister (PM) Jotham Napat on Monday directed the country`s Citizenship Commission to cancel the passport issued to former Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi, saying that the fugitive was attempting to avoid his extradition.
According to news agency PTI, Lalit Modi had filed an application with the Indian High Commission in London on March 7 to surrender his Indian passport. He is known to have acquired citizenship of Vanuatu, a South Pacific Island nation. The IPL founder had left India in 2010 and is learnt to have been living in London.
According to an official media release, the PM of the Republic of Vanuatu said, “I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Lalit Modi following recent revelations in international media. I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities` requests to issue an alert notice on Lalit Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Mr Modi`s citizenship application.”
The release also stated that the “Prime Minister emphasised that holding a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and applicants must seek citizenship for legitimate reasons. None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Modi`s intension.”
Lalit Modi, who previously served as the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is accused of bid-rigging, money laundering, and violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), news agency ANI reported. He left India while under investigation for alleged financial misconduct, including unauthorised fund transfers.
On March 7, while responding to a question on reports that Lalit Modi had acquired the citizenship of Vanuatu, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the government is aware of the application for surrendering his passport in the High Commission of India in London and they are continuing to pursue all cases against him as per the law, ANI reported.
The Spokesperson further added, “The same will be examined in light of extant rules and procedures. We are also informed that he has acquired citizenship in Vanuatu. We continue to pursue the case against him as required under law.”
(With PTI and ANI inputs)
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