The Prime Minister of Vanuatu on Monday ordered the cancellation of the passport issued to former IPL chief Lalit Modi, saying his country’s citizenship cannot be used to avoid extradition.

India has been trying to get Lalit back to face trial on various charges, including alleged money laundering.

The directive from Jotham Napat, Prime Minister of the South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu, comes days after New Delhi confirmed that Lalit had approached the Indian High Commission in London to surrender his Indian passport.

“It is learnt that Mr Lalit Modi has made an application for surrender of his passport at the high commission of India in London. (It) will be examined in light of extant rules and procedures,” external affairs ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal had said in response to a question.

“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.”

Napat said he had instructed his country’s Citizenship Commission to begin proceedings immediately to cancel Lalit’s Vanuatu passport.

He said that a Vanuatu passport was a privilege, not a right, and applicants must have a legitimate reason for seeking citizenship.

“None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Mr Modi’s intention,” Napat said.

Citizenship Commission chairman Charles Maniel made it clear that Lalit had bought his Vanuatu citizenship by investing in that country. The island nation has a citizenship-by-investment programme, also called a golden passport.

Napat said: “While all standard background checks, including Interpol screenings, conducted during his application showed no criminal convictions, I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ request 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.”

An article from a local media outlet that Lalit shared quoted Maniel as saying the commission would start the process of cancelling his passport and citizenship if he was held guilty by the court. The article in Bislama — one of the three official languages of Vanuatu — did not specify which court.

Unfazed by the Prime Minister’s directive, the IPL founder posted an image and video clip of himself on the island and said: “Vanuatu a beautiful country. You must put on your bucket list. Away from all the pollution and noise. Truly heavenly country.”

He added: “I too want to know which case is pending and in which exact court and exactly for what.”

Lalit is accused of financial irregularities in the IPL, which he helmed from 2008 to 2010. The Enforcement Directorate is probing his alleged involvement in a money-laundering case, registered after the BCCI in 2010 accused him of funds misappropriation as IPL chief.

He left India in 2010 amid a slew of charges, including tax evasion.