Port Vila: Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat on Monday orderd authorities to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairperson Lalit Modi. Napat's order came two days after Modi surrendered Indian passport to acquire Vanuatu's citizenship.
As per the official press released, Napat directed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Modi "following recent revelations in international media".
"While all standard background checks, including Interpol screenings, conducted during his application showed no criminal convictions, 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 triggered an automatic rejection of Mr Modi's citizenship application," says Prime Minister Napat.
He emphasised that holding a Vanuatu passport is 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 Mr Modi's intension," Napat added.
Here's The Official Statement By Napat:
On Friday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that Modi had filed an application with the Indian high commission in London to surrender his Indian passport.
"Lalit Modi has made an application for surrendering his passport in 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 in a press briefing.
The former IPL chief is wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies in connection with allegations that he was involved in embezzlement of crores of rupees during his stint as the top boss of the IPL.
