Fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi was dealt a fresh legal blow on Tuesday when the London Circuit Commercial Court ordered him to pay more than $10.7 million — over ₹100 crore — to Bank of India in a civil loan recovery case.
The Ruling
Judge Simon Tinkler, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, delivered the judgment in Bank of India v Firestar Diamond FZE and Ors EWHC 1565 (Comm), holding Modi personally liable under a guarantee he signed in August 2013 for a loan extended to Firestar Diamond FZE, a Dubai-based company he chaired.
The liability includes approximately $4.1 million in principal, with accrued interest bringing the total recoverable amount to more than $10.7 million. The court rejected Modi’s arguments that the personal guarantee was unenforceable under Indian law due to the absence of Reserve Bank of India approval under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Judge Tinkler accepted expert evidence that the RBI retains the power to grant approval retrospectively and that the obligation to obtain consent lay with Modi, not the bank.
Modi’s legal team had also argued that valid demand notices were never properly served. The court dismissed this defence, confirming that notices — including an October 2025 demand delivered to the UK prison where Modi is held — were duly received at addresses specified in the guarantee.
Background and Broader Legal Troubles
The dispute traces back to a loan facility extended by Bank of India to Firestar Diamond FZE in July 2012. Summary judgment had previously been obtained against the company for the principal sum, which remained unpaid. The bank then pursued Modi under the personal guarantee.
Modi, the prime accused in the ₹13,000 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, has been imprisoned in London since his arrest in March 2019. During the trial in March 2026, Modi appeared defiant in the dock, denying he had “knowingly and intentionally” signed the guarantee and blaming investigative agencies for destroying his businesses
