CHOKSI TAKEN TO DOMINICA TO DENY UK APPEAL: LAWYER
Indian fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was “unlawfully renditioned” from Antigua & Barbuda to Dominica so he would no longer have the option of appealing to the UK Privy Council against efforts to strip him of his Antiguan citizenship, a British lawyer representing the businessman contended on Thursday. Michael Polak, part of the legal team, said: “He (Choksi) was lured into a property, kidnapped... forced on to a boat and unlawfully renditioned into another country.”
NEW DELHI: Indian fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was “unlawfully renditioned” from Antigua & Barbuda to Dominica so he would no longer have the option of appealing to the UK Privy Council against efforts to strip him of his Antiguan citizenship, a British lawyer representing the businessman contended on Thursday.
Michael Polak, part of the team representing Choksi and an expert in providing legal assistance to foreign nationals around the world, told a virtual news conference that the team has also filed a complaint with the War Crimes Unit of UK’s Metropolitan Police on the ground that Choksi was tortured.
Dominica dropped the Londonbased Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the country’s final court of appeal in 2015. However, citizens of Antigua & Barbuda voted in a constitutional referendum in 2018 to retain the body as their final court of appeal.
Choksi’s lawyers contend he continues to be an Antiguan citizen and can appeal against any move to strip him of his citizenship or to extradite him to India in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Polak said Choksi wouldn’t have access to this legal protection in Dominica.
Polak described Choksi’s case as one of “egregious breach of the rule of law and fundamental fairness”. He said, “What has happened to Mehul Choksi has been terrible. He was lured into a property, kidnapped, a bag placed over his head, beaten, forced on to a boat and unlawfully renditioned into another country.”
“In Antigua, he has the right to appeal to the Privy Council in London to determine whether the government is acting properly... against him. In Dominica, he does not have such protection. The motive behind the kidnapping could not be clearer,” he added.
There was no immediate response from Indian officials to Polak’s comments.
The Antigua government said on Thursday it was looking into Choksi’s allegation that he was abducted. There was no word from the Dominican authorities.
Choksi went missing from Antigua while out for an evening walk on May 23. While the Antiguan premier has repeatedly said Choksi fled to Dominica with his girlfriend, the businessman’s wife Priti Choksi and lawyers – Wayne Marsh and Vijay Aggarwal – have alleged he was abducted by Antiguan and Indian officials, tortured and taken to Dominica in a boat.
He has been charged for illegal entry in Dominica and is being treated at a hospital after a court adjourned his case till June 14.
A police complaint filed by Choksi in Antigua stated that after he reached Dominica, he was told by his abductors that he was brought there to meet an “Indian politician”. Choksi has named Barbara Jarabica, Narender Singh, Gurmit Singh and “unknown persons”, as his abductors.
A complaint filed by Polak with the UK Metropolitan Police contends that Choksi’s case should be investigated by the War Crimes Unit as it involves torture. Polak said under Section 134 of the UK Criminal Justice Act, English courts have jurisdiction over such matters wherever in the world they take place. Polak said the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service will have the final say in an investigation.
According to Polak’s complaint filed with the Metropolitan Police on June 7, Choksi was allegedly lured by Jarabica and then attacked and taken by force by several men to Dominica in a boat. The complaint pointed out that Jarabica and three men allegedly involved in the incident are all residents of the UK.