Mehul Choksi may be extradited to India: Antigua PM

However, sources in foreign ministry say that his citizenship will be revoked and he will be repatriated to India for him to face action back home. The PM of Antigua has said it is not a case that we are trying to provide any safe harbour to criminals and those who are involved in financial crimes. The PM has also said that once Mehul Choksi has exhausted all his legal options, he will be extradited to India.

We do have recourse, the reality is that his citizenship will be revoked and he will be deported to India,” the PM has said, “Presently the matter is before the court, so we have to allow for due process. We have conveyed to the Indian government that criminals also have fundamental rights and Choksi has a right to go to court to defend his position. But I can assure you, after he has exhausted all of his legal options, he will be extradited,” said the Antiguan Prime Minister.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are the two key accused wanted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly defrauding the Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the tune of Rs 13,400 crore in collusion with a few employees of the government-run lender. The multi-crore fraud came to light in early 2018. Both Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi had fled the country before that. Recently, Mehul Choksi told the Bombay High Court that he left India for medical check-up and not to avoid prosecution in the case.

Choksi, currently living in the Caribbean nation of Antigua, filed an affidavit in Mumbai Court on Monday through his advocate Vijay Aggarwal, stating he had left the country in January 2018 for getting medical check-up and treatment abroad. ED had told the Bombay High Court that it was ready to provide an air ambulance to bring diamantaire Mehul Choksi for trial.