New Delhi:

A day after Vanuatu cancelled his passport, Lalit Modi, the former chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL), described the island nation as “truly heavenly.” Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat ordered the cancellation of Mr Modi’s passport, citing concerns that the fugitive was using it to evade extradition to India. 

“Vanuatu [is] a beautiful country. You must put [it] on your bucket list. Away from all the pollution and noise. Truly heavenly country,” Mr Modi wrote.

The former IPL chairman, who left India in 2010 while facing allegations of financial fraud, had been residing in London and was known to have acquired Vanuatu citizenship through its “Citizenship by Investment” programme.

Prime Minister Napat, in an official statement, instructed the Citizenship Commission to cancel Mr Modi’s passport, stating that acquiring Vanuatu citizenship was a privilege, not a right. The statement also clarified that Mr Modi’s passport had been issued following standard background checks, including Interpol screenings, which revealed no criminal convictions at the time.

However, PM Napat acknowledged that Interpol had twice rejected requests from Indian authorities to issue a notice against Mr Modi due to a lack of substantive judicial evidence. Any such alert would have triggered an automatic rejection of Mr Modi’s citizenship application, the prime minister’s statement said.

India reportedly asked Vanuatu to cancel Mr Modi’s passport. While India does not have a diplomatic mission in Vanuatu, its high commission in New Zealand manages relations with the island nation.

Mr Modi, the founding chairman of the IPL, has been wanted by India on charges of financial misconduct. He is accused of embezzling large sums of money during his tenure as IPL commissioner, including allegations of bid-rigging, money laundering, and violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Despite multiple efforts to secure his return to India, Mr Modi has remained in London since 2010.