Vanuatu PM Cancels Lalit Modi’s Passport After Interpol Alert Rejection by India

Vanuatu PM Cancels Lalit Modi’s Passport: Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat has ordered the immediate cancellation of Lalit Modi’s Vanuatu passport, following recent media reports about the fugitive businessman’s legal troubles in India.

Modi, who has been living in London since he left India in 2010, applied to the Indian High Commission in London earlier this month to surrender his Indian passport. The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed the application. Modi, who was already in possession of Vanuatu citizenship, had been under scrutiny due to his alleged financial misconduct.

“I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to immediately begin proceedings to cancel Lalit Modi’s Vanuatu passport. 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,” Napat stated.

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He clarified that a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and applicants must provide legitimate reasons for citizenship.

“None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Mr. Modi's intention,” Napat added.

The Ministry of External Affairs recently confirmed that Lalit Modi filed an application to surrender his Indian passport. "He has made an application for surrendering his passport in the high commission of India, London," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "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," he said.

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Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, stated that India is continuing to pursue the case against the former IPL boss according to the law.

The case against Lalit Modi

Lalit Modi, who previously served as the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is accused of bid-rigging, money laundering, and violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 (FEMA). He left India in 2010 while under investigation for financial misconduct, including unauthorised fund transfers.

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