London, June 24 (TIWN) Fugitive diamond marchent Nirav Modi, who is wanted in India in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, has lost the first stage of his extradition appeal in the UK High Court.

An official of the high court confirmed that the permission to appeal was “rejected on paper” on Tuesday.

The latest rejection leaves Nirav Modi with one chance to make his case at a brief oral hearing in the high court with a renewed “leave to appeal” application for a judge to determine if it can proceed to a full appeal hearing.