Vanuatu, March 10 — Former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi shared images from Vanuatu on social media Monday, just days after the island nation’s prime minister, Jotham Napat, directed authorities to revoke his citizenship.
“Vanuatu, a beautiful country. You must put it on your bucket list. Away from all the pollution and noise. Truly heavenly,” Modi posted on X.
Modi, who left India in 2010 amid financial misconduct allegations, reportedly holds Vanuatu citizenship. However, Napat has ordered the Citizenship Commission to cancel his passport following media reports questioning its issuance. “While all standard background checks, including Interpol screenings, showed no criminal convictions, I was informed in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected India’s requests for an alert notice against Lalit Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence,” an official statement from the Republic of Vanuatu said, as quoted by PTI.
On March 7, Modi applied to surrender his Indian passport at the Indian High Commission in London. If accepted, and with Vanuatu revoking his citizenship, he could face legal complications regarding his residency in the UK.
A former vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Modi is accused of bid-rigging, money laundering, and violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. He remains under investigation for unauthorized fund transfers.
