Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Jotham Napat, has ordered the immediate cancellation of Lalit Modi's Vanuatu passport, following recent media reports regarding the fugitive businessman's legal issues in India.
This move comes after international news revealed that Modi, the former IPL (Indian Premier League) chairman, is wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his alleged involvement in embezzling significant sums of money during his tenure as the IPL's head.
An official media release by the Republic of Vanuatu stated, “I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Mr Lalit Modi following recent revelations in international media."
“I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ requests to issue an alert notice on Mr Lalit Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Mr Modi’s citizenship application," it read.
The release also stated that the “Prime Minister emphasised that holding a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and applicants must seek 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 intension," (sic), it read.
Sources indicate that Neeta Bhushan, India's High Commissioner to New Zealand, along with several other island nations, played a pivotal role in ensuring the cancellation of Modi’s Vanuatu passport.
Modi, who has filed an application with the Indian High Commission in London to surrender his Indian passport, is also known to have acquired Vanuatu citizenship. He left India in 2010 and is believed to have been residing in London since then.
An External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, confirmed the development, stating, "He has made an application for surrendering his passport in the Indian High Commission, London. The request will be reviewed in accordance with existing rules and procedures. We are aware that he has obtained citizenship in Vanuatu and will continue pursuing the case against him as required by law."
