Vanuatu’s Prime Minister, Jotham Napat, has directed the Citizenship Commission to revoke Lalit Modi’s passport, citing the rejection of India’s request for an Interpol alert due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
In an official statement, Napat confirmed that he had instructed the commission to initiate immediate proceedings for the cancellation of Modi’s Vanuatu citizenship. While background checks conducted during the application process revealed no criminal convictions, he recently learned that Interpol had twice turned down requests from Indian authorities to issue an alert against Modi, citing inadequate judicial evidence. Had such an alert been issued, Modi’s citizenship application would have been automatically rejected.
The Prime Minister emphasised that holding a Vanuatu passport is a privilege rather than a right, and applicants must demonstrate legitimate grounds for seeking citizenship. He asserted that evading extradition does not constitute a valid reason, adding that recent revelations indicate this was Modi’s primary motive.
Napat also highlighted that Vanuatu has significantly tightened its due diligence procedures for its citizenship-by-investment programme in recent years. This has led to an increasing number of applications being disqualified following enhanced scrutiny by the country’s financial intelligence unit. The revised process now involves rigorous checks across multiple agencies, including verification through Interpol.
*This is a breaking news.
With inputs from agencies
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