Nirav Modi granted permission to appeal against extradition on mental health grounds

Considering his mental health and human rights, a High Court in London on Monday granted diamond merchant Nirav Modi permission to appeal against a magistrates' court order. The Magistrate had ruled in favour of his extradition to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering.

Modi's legal team raised concerns about his "severe depression" and "high risk of suicide". Justice Martin Chamberlain ruled that these arguments are arguable at a substantial hearing. He added that the adequacy of means to prevent successful suicide attempts at the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai shall also fall within the confines of the arguments. Upon extradition, Nirav Modi shall be detained at the Arthur Road jail.

"At this stage, the question for me is simply whether the appellant's case on these grounds is reasonably arguable. In my judgment, it is. I will grant permission to appeal on Grounds 3 and 4," Justice Chamberlain's ruling notes. Both grounds of Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), or the right to life, liberty and security, and Section 91 of the UK's Criminal Justice Act 2003 relates to fitness to plead.

"I will not restrict the basis on which those grounds can be argued, though it seems to me that there should be a particular focus on whether the judge was wrong to reach the conclusion he did, given the evidence as to the severity of the appellant's [Nirav Modi's] depression, the high risk of suicide and the adequacy of any measures capable of preventing successful suicide attempts in Arthur Road prison," the ruling noted.