Choksi to face illegal entry charges: Court
CHOKSI’S LAWYERS TOLD A COURT IN DOMINICA THAT HE IS A CITIZEN OF ANTIGUA AND SHOULD BE REPATRIATED TO THE ISLAND
A top Caribbean court on Wednesday ordered fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi to face charges of illegally entering Dominica, and adjourned till Thursday a petition filed by the businessman’s lawyers challenging his detention in the island.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court said that Choksi -- who mysteriously vanished from Antigua on May 23 before being detained three days later in Dominica, roughly 100 nautical miles away – should be brought from jail to a Dominican magistrate court to respond to the charges by the Dominica government.
The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition by Choksi’s lawyers, who argued that he was illegally abducted from Antigua, where he is a citizen, and physically tortured.
The lawyers told the court that Choksi was a citizen of Antigua, had family there, and was currently fighting two cases pertaining to his extradition and revocation of citizenship, so he should be repatriated to the island. Judge Bernie Stephenson heard the matter through videoconferencing with the 62-yearold businessman attending virtually from the hospital where he was admitted recently.
During the roughly threehour hearing, Choksi’s lawyers said that Dominica Police violated the island’s law of producing a person in court within 72 hours of charging them with a crime.
The court ordered Choksi be immediately produced before a magistrate’s court, where a separate trial is likely to commence if he doesn’t plead guilty to the charges. The Dominican magistrate is expected to hear the matter in the early hours of Thursday, India time. People familiar with developments said the government of India was not mentioned in court on Wednesday.
Priti Choksi, the wife of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, has said that her husband is treated as a criminal in Antigua because of statements made by prime minister Gaston Browne in the past, and that she fears for his life if he is sent back to India.
Terming her husband’s custody in Dominica as a “hostage situation”, she said the Antiguan government should be focusing on bringing its citizen back.
Both jewellers involved in the fraud on Punjab National Bank, Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi, moved their families outside India and then made good their own escape. Nirav Modi is currently fighting extradition proceedings in the UK.
“We, as a family, are deeply anguished by PM Gaston Browne’s statements. My husband is treated as a criminal here (Antigua) because of the statements that Mr Gaston Browne has made in the past of calling him a ‘crook’, etc.; and on what basis, I have no idea. A man who was trying to live his life quietly is being targeted in this manner,” Priti told HT over
the phone from Saint John’s.
Explaining the sequence of events on May 23, she said Choksi went to meet Barbara Jarabica for dinner.
“When he reached her house to pick her up, she asked him to come inside, saying she wanted to show him something. It was the day time so my husband went inside. As soon as he entered, he was accosted by men with Indian and Antiguan accents; they tased him, gagged his mouth, tied him in a wheelchair; and put him in a boat. Then he was transferred to another boat. His last seen image is from 5.11pm on Sunday (and his phone was last on at 5.16 pm,” she said, adding that all the CCTV cameras at Jolly Harbour were not working at that time.
Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal has said the woman was known to the Choksi family, and alleged she was planted to abduct him. PM Browne alleged Choksi had gone to Dominica with his “girlfriend”.
Choksi was reported missing on May 23, and was taken into custody by police in Dominica two days later. His lawyers have filed a habeas corpus petition in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court at Roseau. Indian government officials have reached there to seek his deportation.
Apart from presenting evidence on Choksi’s role in the fraud and money laundering, the Indian argument is expected to revolve around whether he continues to be an Indian citizen.
Priti Choksi said: “Indian constitution says that the moment you take citizenship of another country, you cease to be Indian citizen. And his Indian passport was suspended in February...” “After seeing the pictures of his torture, don’t you think we have every right to fear for his life if he is sent to India?” she asked.