Court rejects Choksi plea to dismiss proceedings to declare him a fugitive economic offender
Choksi through his lawyers had said his detention in Belgium at the request of India should be considered as 'constructive custody' as he is arrested at the request of India and hence, he cannot be declared an FEO.
Mehul Choksi is said to have left India on January 7, 2018 and has chosen to stay out of the country, even as his named cropped up as an accused in the cases filed by the ED and the CBI, for allegedly making unlawful financial gains through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking from PNB. (File Photo)
A special court Friday rejected a plea filed by diamond trader Mehul Choksi which had sought that the proceedings to declare him a fugitive economic offender (FEO) be dismissed since he is in custody in Belgium. Choksi has challenged before the Belgium Supreme Court an order upholding India’s request for his extradition in connection with the probe into the alleged fraud on Punjab National Bank, where he is an absconding accused.
Choksi through his lawyers had said his detention in Belgium at the request of India should be considered as ‘constructive custody’ as he is arrested at the request of India and hence, he cannot be declared an FEO. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had said that Choksi is contesting the proceedings in Belgiumin a bid to avoid returning to India to face criminal proceedings here and till he is handed over to Indian agencies and is brought before the court, the plea to declare him an FEO is maintainable.
Agreeing with the contention of the ED, special judge A V Gujarathi rejected the plea. The detailed reasoning is yet to be made available. The ED had in 2018 filed an application to declare Choksi an economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, which will allow authorities to confiscate his properties in the country even before the trial begins.
Choksi is said to have left India on January 7, 2018 and has chosen to stay out of the country, even as his named cropped up as an accused in the cases filed by the ED and the CBI, for allegedly making unlawful financial gains through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking from PNB.
Additional solicitor general Anil Singh had told the court, opposing Choksi’s plea, that the diamond trader had continued to evade the criminal process and stayed out of India despite non-bailable warrants. Singh along with special public prosecutor Kavita Patil submitted that Choksi through his lawyers had filed 37 applications to oppose him being declared an FEO, calling it ‘delay tactics’.
“The warrants pending against him say that he is to be arrested and produced in a court here. Can he be produced today? Once he comes to India, the ED will not go on with this application but right now he cannot be brought to India and produced before a court here. Hence, the application can be heard and decided,” the ASG had said in September, adding that if Choksi were to surrender and return to India, the proceedings to declare him a fugitive would stop. He also said that a similar application was made by Choksi’s nephew, Nirav Modi, who is facing proceedings in the UK, but it was rejected and he was declared an FEO in 2020.
The court is now likely to hear the ED’s plea to declare Choksi an FEO. The trial against the other co-accused arrested in 2018 is yet to begin.
Sadaf Modak is a distinguished Legal Correspondent based in Mumbai whose work demonstrates exceptional Expertise and Authority in covering the intricacies of the judicial and correctional systems. Reporting for The Indian Express, she is a highly Trustworthy source for in-depth coverage of courtroom proceedings and human rights issues.
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