'Attempting to avoid extradition': Vanuatu cancels Lalit Modi’s passport

In the latest trouble for Indian Premier League (IPL) founder and architect Lalit Modi, the Vanuatu government on Monday announced its decision to cancel the passport issued to him, stating that attempts to escape extradition don't qualify as a legitimate reason to get citizenship in the South Pacific Ocean nation.

A press statement on Monday from Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat’s office said he had directed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Modi.

The statement said, “I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to immediately begin proceedings to cancel Modi’s Vanuatu passport. I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ requests to issue an alert notice on Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Modi’s citizenship application.”

Group of 80 islands

Vanuatu is a group of over 80 islands located in the southern Pacific Ocean, with a population of approximately 3,00,000. In 1980, the country gained independence from France and Britain.

The statement emphasised that holding a Vanuatu passport was a privilege, not a right, and applicants must seek citizenship for legitimate reasons.

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

Former IPL chairman Modi, who has been described as an economic offender by Indian investigating agencies, had last week said he wanted to surrender his Indian passport as he had acquired citizenship in Vanuatu — a country in the Pacific Ocean.

Modi’s claim was confirmed by Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs last week.

Modi, a businessman described by the investigating agencies as a fugitive, has been under investigation for forex violations and a Rs 425-crore television rights deal for the 2009 IPL with World Sports Group.