Fugitive Lalit Modi’s Passport Canceled after Granting Him in Vanuatu, Interpol Messages Prime Minister

Fugitive Lalid Modi's departure was canceled after the Vanuatu Prime Minister Cancelled passport given by his own country. The decision came after Lalit Modi had sought the cancellation of his passport. However, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the passport of Lalit Modi was canceled by the Prime Minister of Vanuatu.

“I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to immediately begin proceedings to cancel Mr. Modi’s Vanuatu passport,” claimed Mr. Nipat. He also said that the passport to Mr Modi was handed post “all standard background checks, including Interpol screenings” and an agreement was made to provide him with a passport after “Interpol had twice rejected India’s requests to issue an alert notice on Mr. Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence”.

Soon after the announcement from the Vanuatu Government, Lalit Modi posted pictures and videos of Vanuatu. In his post, he writes “Vanuatu (is) a beautiful country. You must put it on your bucket list. Away from all the pollution and noise. Truly heavenly country,”. Lalit Modi is popularly known as the founder of the Indian Premier League. He is wanted in India however, he has been living out of India since 2010.

The Ministry of External Affairs recently received a request from Lalit Modi who sought to cancel his passport. “It is learned that Mr. Lalit Modi has made an application for surrender of his passport at the High Commission of India in 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,” claims Randhir Jaiswal a spokesperson from the Ministry of External Affairs.

Interpol has been in constant touch with different administrations depending on the location he is living in. The Interpol is trying to nab the fugitive and deport him back to India. He is being apprehended for money laundering and Money Rigging and has been out from India since 2010 after founding IPL. He was reportedly getting death threats from people across India for which he was forced to leave the country. Though he was not under any legal pressure to leave India.

Vanuatu has been a matter of diplomacy in recent years and is a member of the Forum of Indo-Pacific Islands. In this forum, India helps small islands in terms of development and growth. It was found in 2014 and since then India has helped several small islands to develop and grow themselves.