The High Court in London on Thursday rejected a fresh bail application filed by diamantaire Nirav Modi, who has been in prison in the UK for over six years while fighting against his extradition to face the Indian courts in the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, which he is charged with orchestrating with his uncle Mehul Choksi. The 54-year-old`s legal counsel argued for bail on the grounds of "passage of time" and the adverse impact on his health in his London prison. However, Justice Michael Fordham ruled at the Royal Courts of Justice that Nirav remained a flight risk and continued to have funds at his disposal to influence witnesses in his case.

"Fresh bail petition filed by Nirav Deepak Modi was rejected Thursday by the High Court of Justice, King`s Bench Division, London. The bail arguments were strongly opposed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) advocate, who was ably assisted by a strong CBI team consisting of investigating and law officers who travelled to London for this purpose," the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement in New Delhi. There are three sets of criminal proceedings against Nirav in India, the CBI case of fraud on the Punjab National Bank (PNB), the ED case relating to the alleged laundering of the proceeds of that fraud and a third set of criminal proceedings involving alleged interference with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings.