The United Kingdom's home secretary has recently referred India's request for extraditing bank-fraud accused Nirav Modi to a court for initiating legal proceedings against the diamantaire, official sources said on Saturday.

A British daily reported that Modi, accused in the $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, is living in a swanky 8-million pound apartment in London's West End and is now involved in a new diamond business.

Sources in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said they had been officially informed about UK home secretary Sajid Javid's move to forward the case to a London court about two days ago.

This move takes the process of extraditing and bringing back Modi to face the law in India to the next stage, the sources said.

Soon, they said, a joint team of the ED and the CBI would travel to the UK to apprise the lawyers about the Indian case and evidence against Modi, in a similar fashion that was done in the case of another absconding bank-fraud accused, Vijay Mallya.

The ED and the CBI are investigating Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others for alleged money laundering and corruption to perpetrate the alleged scam in the Brady House branch of the PNB in Mumbai that was unearthed last year.

Modi, 48, is currently living in a three-bedroom flat occupying half a floor of the landmark Centre Point tower block, where rent is estimated to cost 17,000 pounds a month, The Telegraph reported.

The revelation comes a day after Modi's 30,000 sq ft seaside mansion at Kihim beach in Maharashtra's Raigad district was demolished by authorities using explosives for alleged violation of coastal regulation rules.

India is taking all steps necessary for Modi’s extradition,a spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs said on Saturday, adding that the UK was still considering India's request.

Modi has been chargesheeted by both the ED and the CBI, and the ED has also attached his assets worth crores under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.