Five months after Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamond trader wanted for the alleged `13,000-crore Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, was arrested in Belgium, an Antwerp court Friday cleared his extradition, it is learnt.
Choksi may now appeal against the Court of Appeal’s preliminary judgment before the Belgian Supreme Court in the next 15 days, a source said.
The Court of Appeal is learnt to have said that Choksi’s arrest by Belgian authorities on India’s request was valid. The order came a month after the Indian government had assured the Belgian government that it would keep Choksi in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail complex “if extradited”.
The source mentioned above said: “This is a win and the first step towards his extradition. The Court of Appeal in Antwerp, Belgium after hearing has issued a preliminary judgment today rejecting his appeal against extradition. He may now appeal against this order before the Belgian Supreme Court in the next 15 days.”
Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, are wanted in the Punjab National Bank case that they allegedly orchestrated through fraudulent Letters of Undertaking in connivance with some officials at Mumbai’s Brady House branch.
Choksi was arrested in Belgium on April 11 based on an extradition request by the Central Bureau of Investigation and has been lodged in Antwerp Prison ever since. Last month, a Belgian court turned down Choksi’s bail plea, just ahead of his extradition hearing. The CBI has chargesheeted Choksi in a Rs 6,400-crore bank fraud.
In a letter sent on September 4 to Belgian authorities, Rakesh Kumar Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, said the Indian government was seeking Choksi’s extradition so that could face trial in India.
Story continues below this ad
“The Centre, on the basis of a report from the Maharashtra government, assures that Choksi will be held at Barrack No. 12, Arthur Road jail complex. It is also assured that he will be kept in a cell in which he will get a minimum of three square meters of personal space (not including furniture) throughout the period of his prospective detention (pre-trial and post-conviction) in case he is found guilty,” Pandey said in his letter.
In his letter, Pandey also assured that the detention centre in which he is to be kept has provisions for a clean, thick cotton mat, pillow, bedsheet, and blanket. “A metal frame/wooden bed can also be provided on medical grounds. Adequate light, ventilation and storage for permitted personal belongings are available,” the officer added in the letter.
