2 min readNew DelhiJul 28, 2026 09:55 PM IST
RESPONDING TO reports about former British Home Secretary Priti Patel’s claims that New Delhi has refused to take back thousands of illegal Indian migrants from the UK because London has not extradited Nirav Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said that there is a set procedure followed for the deportation of any person, and that paperwork is undertaken to establish citizenship.
“The legal proceedings against Nirav Modi are underway, and he will be deported once these proceedings conclude,” said Randhir Jaiswal, MEA’s official spokesperson. He reiterated that the Indian government remains “committed to bringing the fugitive offender back” to face due legal process.
Nirav Modi is wanted in India to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges in a $2 billion Punjab National Bank loan scam case.
Speaking on a ‘The Daily Telegraph’ podcast, Patel also said she was “appalled and horrified” that fugitive Nirav Modi was still in the UK, although she signed his extradition order to India in 2021.
Patel said that as Home Secretary, during the Tory-led government between 2019 and 2022, the case complicated matters for her as India “would really push back” on taking visa overstayers.
“I had a hell of a challenge getting them [India] to sign off on receiving failed asylum seekers… and I’m convinced it’s because we had this high-profile case [of Nirav Modi] and we had another high-profile case at the time and until they [India] saw action and movement on those, guess what, they had some leverage over us, which was terribly frustrating,” she said.