Caribbean court stays repatriation of Choksi
NEW DELHI: The top court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States has stayed the immediate repatriation of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi to India even as Indian investigators have pushed for it since he was captured in Dominica after going missing from Antigua & Barbuda on Sunday.
Thursday’s order came after Choksi’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus, or writ, petition seeking to bring a prisoner or detainee before the court to determine if the person’s imprisonment or detention is lawful, in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC).
Justice Birnie Stephenson of the ECSC ruled the Dominica police will not remove Choksi until further orders or the hearing of the writ, according to a copy of her order reviewed by HT and reports in the local media.
Officials in New Delhi monitoring the developments said they are in touch with Dominica to seek Choksi’s repatriation to India on the basis of an Interpol notice. Choksi’s lawyers have alleged their client was abducted from Antigua and taken to Dominica illegally.