UK High Court hears Nirav Modi's bail appeal

The UK High Court on Tuesday began hearing fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi's appeal against a lower court's order to deny him bail as he fights his extradition from Britain to India in the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.

Justice Ingrid Simler at the Royal Courts of Justice in London began hearing the arguments presented by Nirav Modi's legal team in an attempt to persuade the judge to overturn the Westminster Magistrates' Court ruling to deny bail during three previous attempts, for fear that the 48-year-old would fail to surrender.

"The reality is that he is not the cold-blooded hardened criminal as claimed by the government of India but a jewellery designer from a long line of diamond dealers, and regarded as being honest careful and reliable," said Clare Montgomery, Nirav Modi's barrister, as she opened the arguments in the hearing.