Amid India’s push to extradite Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, UK officials visit Tihar jail to inspect conditions

The visit was pre-scheduled; the officials arrived on July 16 and spent hours in the premises, the sources added.

Written by Alok Singh

New Delhi | Updated: September 6, 2025 07:18 PM IST

Amid India’s push to extradite Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, British officials visit Tihar jail to inspect conditions

In July, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the Indian government is working “very closely” with the UK to bring Mallya (left), Nirav (right), and Lalit Modi back to India.

A team from the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recently visited Delhi’s Tihar jail to assess the condition of inmates as well as security within the prison premises, The Indian Express has learnt.

According to sources, the visit came in the backdrop of the Indian government’s ongoing efforts to secure the extradition of fugitive economic offenders such as liquor baron Vijay Mallya, diamond trader Nirav Modi, and UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari from the UK. The British courts recently pointed to concerns over the condition of prisons in India while hearing extradition matters.

The team, comprising four officials — including two from the British High Commission — visited Tihar’s Jail No. 4, where they inspected high-security wards and also interacted with inmates, an official source told The Indian Express.

Jail number 4 is where first-time prisoners are lodged.

The visit was pre-scheduled; the officials arrived on July 16 and spent hours in the premises, the sources added.

Sources said officials at Tihar assured the CPS team that proper care would be given to the prisoners who would be extradited. “The team said that a special enclave or enclosure may be set up to accommodate these high-profile prisoners, if required. These enclosures will help segregate high-profile prisoners from other inmates,” a source said.

“The team also noted the conditions of prisoners,” the source added.

In recent years, reports of gang wars, murders, and attacks by inmates on fellow prisoners inside Tihar Jail have raised serious questions about the security of prisoners within the facility. In 2023, two high-profile gangsters, Tillu Tajpuria and Prince Tewatia, were killed in Tihar by rival gangs.

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Delhi Prisons has 16 jails, including Rohini and Mandoli. They house over 19,000 inmates — about double the sanctioned capacity.

Based on recent information from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as of 2024, India has submitted a total of 178 requests to various countries for the extradition of fugitives — including individuals linked to terrorist acts within the country — since January 1, 2019. Of these 178, 20 people are in the UK. These include some Khalistani operatives as well.

As of December 10, 2024, the MEA reported that 23 individuals have been successfully extradited since the beginning of 2019.

In July, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the Indian government is working “very closely” with the UK to bring Mallya, Nirav Modi, and former IPL chairman Lalit Modi back to India.

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