CHOKSI CHALLENGED MOVE TO REVOKE CITIZENSHIP: LAWYER
NEW DELHI: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has challenged the Antigua and Barbuda government initiating the process to cancel his citizenship granted under the Caribbean nation’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) in November 2017, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
HT reported on Monday that two officers in the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate said that Choksi’s citizenship was cancelled sometime last year and he was fighting the order to revoke his citizenship in an Antiguan court. Vijay Aggarwal, Choksi’s lawyer in India, said: “My client Mehul Choksi has clarified that he is very much an Antiguan citizen. His citizenship has not been revoked.”
According to people aware of the developments, Choksi was issued a show-cause notice by Antigua and Barbuda authorities last year as part of the process to cancel his citizenship.
Lionel Hurst, chief of staff to Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne, said the process to strip Choksi of his citizenship will take time. Hurst told news channel India Today that the government attempted to revoke Choksi’s citizenship but he filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda. “This matter will take about seven years to be resolved. With enough money to pursue these legal challenges, 2027 is the earliest for a final resolution.” Choksi can move the Court of Appeals and the Privy Council in London if he loses in the HC.
Comments from Hurst, Antigua’s immigration department and the Antiguan PM’S office were not available till the time of print.