The Magistrate’s Court of London thought him too dangerous a man to be allowed free run of the city. A man with too many resources and reputation to match a British mobster’s! He could bolt.

It was seen a simple civil case, his bail plea. But when it came up for hearing, it took the overtones of a criminal case. The trial of a dreaded mobster. A man who will not think twice to silence witnesses, scare people off the case. Anybody who could be hauled up in court and asked to testify against him.

Nirav Modi’s image is such that the court couldn’t let him out on bail. His counsel’s offer of a couple of million pounds in bail bond notwithstanding with round-the-clock 24/7 radio collar tied to his ankle. His wife will not agree, but this is one chap who is trusted like a fox. The feeling was he could bolt the minute he’s out of hearing distance of the court! And his diamonds will keep him forever free. Aren’t diamonds for forever?

Nirav Modi also carries with him the notoriety of a globe-trotter, with tax-havens his favourite destinations. The chap is flush with funds to throw around and has passports, not one but one too many. He’s also “international citizen’ with homes strewn in cities all around the globe – New York, Beijing…

Of course, no bail for Nirav Modi till April 26, gives Prime Minister Narendra Modi respite. The opposition will not be able to hit Modi with Modi and by the time April 26 comes and goes, general elections will be up and swinging, going places. From then on, till May 23, things will be so hectic that unless Nirav Modi does a Houdini, he’ll be of no consequence. And as the elections grind on, he’ll all the time in the world to dig a tunnel and escape.

Come to think of it, the Modi Government must be content with the London court’s decision. Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi are both ‘unfinished business.’ Modi can always say that given another term, he’ll bring them both home to justice. And, just to keep the impression hanging that he’s first and foremost fugitive-chaser, he’s still got Mehul Choksi to talk about.

At the end of his five-year reign, Modi has left so many loose ends that it’s like they have been left loose by design rather than because of coincidence. It’s not just about fugitives on the loose. There’s also Ram Mandir, Swami Ayyappa Shrine, Article 370/35 A, two crore jobs; farmers unhappiness, Dalit diatribe, Rs 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account. And, above all, the ‘Acche Din’ that never came.

Somehow, the impression has built that Narendra Modi is as much confined to a cell as Nirav Modi is – prisoners of their words and deeds. If one failed to keep promises he made to banks, the other promised the moon to the voter and at the end of the day couldn’t look the sun in the eye. In both cases, the ‘Gunfight at OK Corral’ is still in the future. In Narendra Modi’s case, May 23 we will know his fate, where he’ll end, in or out of the cell? (IPA Service)