New Delhi, June 24 -- A UK court has held fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi personally liable for a debt of more than $10.7 million owed to Bank of India, rejecting his argument that the personal guarantee he executed was unenforceable under India's foreign exchange laws.

In a judgement delivered on Tuesday and reviewed by Mint, the High Court of England and Wales ruled that Modi must honour a personal guarantee he signed in 2013 in favour of Bank of India in connection with credit facilities extended to Firestar Diamond FZE, a Dubai-based company of Modi's Firestar Group.

The court held that the guarantee remained valid and enforceable under Indian law and that the bank had properly invoked it after the borrower defaulted.

The court sai...