Nirav Modi fights Bank of India from UK prison over $8 million claim

The TOI correspondent from London: Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi claims he is in a David and Goliath fight against the Bank of India who are pursuing him for $8.4 million (about Rs 73.4 crore). He says he is the underdog since he is in prison in Britain without access to a laptop or the Internet.

Nirav denies he owes the bank anything and a trial to determine whether he does is scheduled at the London high court in Jan 2026.

The India-born businessman (54) argued in the high court on Thursday that if the trial went ahead, it breached his rights to a fair trial as he could not conduct his defence as a litigant in person without a laptop or Internet. He also argued that if he tries to obtain documents or witness statements for his defence, he could face further criminal charges.

He appeared at London circuit commercial court via video link from Thameside prison, representing himself, without a lawyer.

“The bank has tanks and missiles and I only have wooden sticks,” he told the court, arguing for the case to be stayed. “My servers were taken away by the ED. I don’t have access to anything.”

The Bank of India got a summary judgment of $8.4 million against Nirav’s company Firestar Diamond FZE in Dubai March 2024 for non-payment of a $15 million (approximately Rs 131 crore) loan the company took out in 2012.

In 2018, at the time of Nirav’s alleged fraud against PNB, the Bank of India terminated the loan. It has not been repaid, so now the bank is pursuing Nirav who, the bank says, provided a personal guarantee.

Nirav says he does not recollect signing the loan facility. He wants a forensic expert to look at the original loan documents to see if his signatures are forged, so he made an application to see the original three core contractual documents.

Judge David Bailey KC adjourned his stay application until the pre-trial review in Sept and gave an order that the bank must allow him to inspect the three original documents.

Bailey also ordered the bank to provide Nirav with hard copies for disclosure, a hard copy of the current edition of the CPR (civil procedure rules) and a book for litigants in person.

Nirav isin custody pending extradition to India where he faces criminal proceedings. He is on remand in the UK pending the outcome of “confidential proceedings” which won’t conclude until late 2026, Bailey said.

Tom Beasley, representing the Bank of India, objected to the stay saying that Nirav was able to conduct other proceedings, such as his bail applications, US bankruptcy proceedings and “trust proceedings” in the high court, as well as the “confidential proceedings”.

Before the hearing, Nirav asked Beasley if the bank had been paid back as he said the ED had issued a release in Sept 2024 saying it had received “Rs 1,024 crore” which had been “given to all the banks”.

Beasley said: “We have not been paid. If we had, we would not be here.”