In a fresh tribal for the Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi, the Vanuatu government has decided to cancel the passport issued to him, stating that efforts to avoid extradition are not qualified as a legitimate reason to get citizenship in the South Pacific Ocean nation.
The billionaire fugitive is desired for alleged financial irregularities in India. Earlier, Lalit Modi filed an application with the Indian High Commission in London to surrender his Indian passport.
His office said that Vanuatu Prime Minister Jitot Napat has asked the country’s Citizenship Commission to release the passport issued to Lalit Modi to “after recent revelations in the international media”.
“While all standard background check, including no criminal guilty conducted during his application, has been informed in the last 24 hours, which has been apprised that Interpol rejected the requests of Indian officials twice to issue an alert notice to issue an alert notice to Mr. Modi due to lack of an alert notice on Mr. Modi.
He emphasized that keeping Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not an right, and applicants should seek citizenship for valid reasons.
He said, “Any of those legitimate reasons includes an attempt to avoid extradition, which clearly indicate recent facts that Mr. Modi’s intention,” he said.
The statement said that the Vanuatu government has greatly strengthened the proper diligence aspect of its citizenship through the investment program in the last four years. This, the Prime Minister’s Office said, “There has been a significant increase in applications failing in the increased investigation by Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit. “The better process implemented several years ago includes triple-agency checks, including interpol verification,” it said.
The Ministry of External Affairs recently confirmed that Lalit Modi filed an application to surrender his Indian passport. Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jiswal said, “He has made an application to surrender his passport in the Indian High Commission, London.” He said, “A similar investigation will be done.
Lalit Modi left India in 2010. He is wanted in India regarding the allegation that he was involved in the embezzlement of crores during his tenure as an IPL commissioner.
