NEW DELHI: In a major setback to fugitive billionaire and Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi, the Pacific Island country of Vanuatu, where he has sought refuge, has on Monday announced the revocation of his passport.
In a statement, Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Jotham Napat informed that he has directed the country’s Citizenship Commission to cancel the passport issued to Modi, noting that an attempt to avoid extradition was not a legitimate reason to obtain a Vanuatuan passport.
"I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ requests to issue an alert notice on Mr Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Mr Modi’s citizenship application,” Napat said.
The PM emphasised that holding a Vanuatuan passport is a privilege and individuals should be applying for citizenship for legitimate reasons.
"None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Mr Modi's intention," he said.
Lalit Modi, who is facing multiple investigations in India for financial fraud, had earlier filed an application with the Indian High Commission in London to surrender his Indian passport.
It is learnt from sources here that the Government of India got into action following Modi's application and the authorities, for the first time, came to know about him acquiring Vanuatu citizenship.
India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand Neeta Bhushan along with a few other island nations, played a key role in getting Lalit Modi’s Vanuatu passport cancelled, they added.
On March 7, Modi had given an application to the Indian High Commission in London to surrender his Indian passport, which was later confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA): "Modi, who left India in 2010 and is learnt to have been living in London, is now known to have acquired citizenship of Vanuatu, a South Pacific Island nation."
"He has made an application for surrendering his passport in the high commission of India, London... The same will be examined in light of extant rules and procedures. We are also given to understand that he has acquired citizenship of Vanuatu. We continue to pursue the case against him as required under law," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Lalit Modi, who was the founder and first chairman of the IPL, fled to UK in May 2010 after several agencies, including the ED opened an investigation against him in connection with forex violations and a Rs 425-crore TV rights deal for the 2009 IPL with World Sports Group.