Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has moved the Supreme Court of Belgium against the order allowing his extradition to India in the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. Choksi filed an appeal in the Court of Cassation, the country’s highest court, on October 30, challenging the October 17 verdict of the Antwerp Court of Appeals, which had termed India’s extradition request as “enforceable”, clearing the way for his return. Public prosecutor Ken Wittpas of the Antwerp Appeals Court said the appeal is limited to legal merits and the extradition process will be put on hold until the case is decided.
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Earlier, the four-member prosecution chamber of the Antwerp Appellate Court had upheld the district court’s November 2024 order validating the arrest warrants issued by a special court in Mumbai in May 2018 and June 2021, paving the way for Choksi’s extradition. The court also ruled that he faces no risk of being denied a fair trial or subjected to ill-treatment if extradited to India. According to the CBI charge sheet, Choksi is accused of embezzling Rs 6,400 crore out of the total scam of Rs 13,000 crore related to PNB. Just before the scam came to light, he fled to Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018 and was later traced to Belgium, where he had reportedly gone for treatment.
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India submitted its extradition request to Belgium on August 27, 2024. The pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp District Court, Turnhout Division, later declared the Mumbai arrest warrants unenforceable, except for one related to “disappearance of evidence”. Officials said India has given several assurances to Belgium regarding Choksi’s security, human rights, medical care and fairness of the judicial proceedings on his return.
Disclaimer: Prabhasakshi has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.