In a major setback for former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairperson Lalit Modi, Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat on Monday ordered authorities to cancel his Vanuatu passport, just two days after Modi surrendered his Indian citizenship.
As per an official statement, PM Napat directed the Citizenship Commission to revoke Modi’s passport following “recent revelations in international media.” He stated that although standard background checks, including Interpol screenings, had shown no criminal convictions during the application process, new information had surfaced regarding India’s attempts to issue an alert notice against Modi.
“I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ requests to issue an alert notice on Mr. Modi due to a lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Mr. Modi’s citizenship application,” Napat said.
The Vanuatu PM stressed that citizenship is a privilege, not a right, and should not be used to evade legal proceedings. “None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Mr. Modi’s intention,” he added.
India Continues Legal Pursuit
On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that Modi had applied to surrender his Indian passport at the High Commission of India in London. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, “Lalit Modi has made an application for surrendering his passport in the High Commission of India, London. The same will be examined in light of extant rules and procedures. 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.”
Modi’s Legal Troubles
The former IPL chief is wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies over allegations of financial irregularities amounting to crores of rupees during his tenure at the helm of the IPL. His attempts to secure foreign citizenship have long been seen as a move to avoid extradition.