Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat has ordered the Citizenship Commission to cancel Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi’s passport, citing the rejection of Indian authorities’ request for an Interpol alert due to insufficient evidence.
“I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to immediately begin proceedings to cancel Mr. Modi’s Vanuatu passport,” Napat said in a statement.
He said that while background checks showed no criminal convictions, he was recently informed that Interpol had rejected Indian requests for an alert on Lalit Modi due to insufficient evidence, which would have led to the rejection of his citizenship application.
“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,” the statement issued by PM Napat reads.
He clarified that a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and applicants must provide legitimate reasons for citizenship.
“None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Mr. Modi’s intention,” Napat added.
PM Napat said that in recent years, the Vanuatu government has strengthened the due diligence process for its citizenship by investment programme, resulting in more applications failing enhanced scrutiny by the Vanuatu financial intelligence unit.
The updated process includes triple-agency checks, including Interpol verification, the statement added.
Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising an archipelago of 83 islands, of which 65 are inhabited.
