Vanuatu PM orders cancellation of Lalit Modi's passport after media revelations
Port Vila: Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat has ordered the cancellation of the Vanuatu passport issued to former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi. The directive came on Monday, two days after Modi surrendered his Indian passport to acquire Vanuatu citizenship.
According to an official statement, Napat instructed the Citizenship Commission to revoke Modi’s passport following recent international media reports.
"While all standard background checks, including Interpol screenings, showed no criminal convictions at the time of his application, I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities' requests to issue an alert notice on Mr Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have led to an automatic rejection of his citizenship application," the statement read.
Napat stressed that holding a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and that citizenship must be sought for legitimate reasons. "None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts clearly indicate was Mr Modi’s intention," he added.
Indian authorities continue pursuing case against Modi
On Friday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that Modi had applied to surrender his Indian passport at the Indian High Commission in London.
"Lalit Modi has made an application for surrendering his passport in the High Commission of India, 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," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Modi is wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies over allegations of financial irregularities amounting to crores of rupees during his tenure as IPL chairman.
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RCB pip CSK by two runs in last-ball IPL thriller
Bengaluru: Ayush Mhatre's 94 and Ravindra Jadeja's 77 not out went in vain as Royal Challengers Bengaluru pipped Chennai Super Kings by two runs in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Chasing 214, CSK scored 211 for 5 in their 20 overs.
Mhatre scored a 48-ball 94 with five sixes and nine fours while adding 114 runs with Jadeja (77 not out off 45 balls, 8x4s, 2x6s) for the second wicket.
For RCB, Lungi Ngidi returned with figures of 3/30.
Earlier, half-centuries from Jacob Bethell (55), Virat Kohli (62) and Romario Shepherd (53 not out) took RCB to 213 for five.
While Bethell and Kohli put on 97 runs for the opening wicket to set a platform, Shepherd blasted four fours and six sixes to make 53 not out off only 14 balls, recording the fastest fifty of the season and joint second-fastest overall.
For CSK, Matheesha Pathirana found his rhythm and lengths to return 3-0-36-3.
Brief scores:
RCB: 213 for 5 in 20 overs (Jacob Bethell 55, Virat Kohli 62, Romario Shepherd 53 not out; Matheesha Pathirana 3/36).
CSK: 211 for 5 in 20 overs (Ayush Mhatre 94, Ravindra Jadeja 77 not out; Lungi Ngidi 3/30).
