India going ‘all out’ to extradite Choksi
Antiguan PM tells local media New Delhi has sent a jet to Dominica; no confirmation from Indian government
NEW DELHI: India has sent a private jet to get fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi repatriated directly from Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne has told the local media there.
A Bombardier Global 5,000 jet of Qatar Executive landed at Dominica’s Douglas Charles airport on Saturday. It’s publicly accessible flight path shows that it took off from New Delhi on May 28 and reached Dominica via Madrid.
PM Browne, who has been vocal about not accepting Choksi back in his country, where he is a citizen, said, “My understanding is that [the] Indian government has sent certain documentation from courts in India to confirm that Choksi is indeed a fugitive.” These documents, Browne added, will be utilised in the court case in Dominica, where a judge is hearing the matter and has put a stay on repatriation till Wednesday.
“Indian government seems to be going all out to make sure he is repatriated to India to stand trial,” Browne told a FM channel in Antigua. The interview was posted by Antigua Newsroom on its website.
Indian officials, however, did not divulge details about the team which has flown to Dominica along with the documents, but said this was their “window of opportunity” to bring Choksi to India because once he reaches Antigua, he will have citizenship rights and the extradition case can linger on for years.
Antiguan PM Browne on Saturday accused the country’s key opposition party, the United Progressive Party (UPP), of taking funds from Mehul Choksi for its political campaigns.
The UPP had issued a statement on Saturday saying that since Choksi was an Antiguan citizen, he was entitled to due process and should be treated according to the rule of law.
The statement of key opposition party comes in the wake of Browne saying on Thursday that he asked Dominica to directly send Choksi to India instead of repatriating him to Antigua, where he is now a citizen.
Browne responded to the UPP statement, saying: “After mischievously accusing my administration of harbouring Mehul Choksi, who has an Interpol Red Notice, they are now seeking to sanitise this fugitive to get campaign funding. My administration’s revocation of Choksi’s citizenship has been frustrated by a litigation brought against the state. We are determined to revoke Choksi’s citizenship and to concurrently pursue his extradition to India to face criminal charges there. There has been no
violation of Choksi’s legal and constitution protections, despite the decision of my administration to revoke his citizenship.”
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has ordered that he should not be removed from Dominica, where he was detained by the local police after he went missing from Antigua on Sunday. The court will further hear the matter on Wednesday.
Choksi was released from police custody on Friday following the court order and has been moved to a quarantine facility in Roseau.
Earlier, on Saturday, Antigua Newsroom had released Mehul Choksi’s pictures while in custody of Dominica police.
In one of the photos, he is seen standing behind bars with his left eye swollen while another photo showed bruises on his arm.
Choksi’s lawyers Wayne Marsh and Vijay Aggarwal have alleged the businessman was abducted from Antigua and tortured on the way to Dominica and in custody.
Choksi, who sought refuge in Antigua after allegedly cheating Punjab National Bank of ₹13,578 crore along with his nephew Nirav Modi, and fleeing India in 2018, left his home last Sunday to go for dinner at a well-known restaurant in the southern part of the island and was never seen again.
He was located in Dominica, another Caribbean island country 101 nautical miles from Antigua.