NEW DELHI:
Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat
on Monday directed the cancellation of the Vanuatu passport issued to fugitive businessman Lalit Modi after recent international media reports.
“I have instructed the citizenship commission to immediately begin proceedings to cancel Lalit Modi’s Vanuatu 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’ requests to issue an alert notice on Lalit Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Lalit Modi’s citizenship application,” he added.
The Vanuatu PM specified that holding a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and that applicants must have legitimate reasons for seeking citizenship. “None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Lalit Modi’s intention,” he added.
Meanwhile, former IPL chairman has previously submitted an application to surrender his Indian passport at the Indian High Commission in London after acquiring citizenship of the Pacific island nation. The ministry of external affairs stated that his request would be reviewed under “extant rules and procedures.”
“We are also given to understand that Lalit Modi has acquired the citizenship of Vanuatu. We continue to pursue the case against him as required under law,” an MEA spokesperson had said earlier.
India has repeatedly sought assistance from the UK in extraditing Lalit Modi, who has been facing legal proceedings related to financial irregularities.
