Choksi opposes ED’s fugitive offender plea, claims constructive custody in Belgium

NEW DELHI: Diamond merchant Mehul Choksi who is key accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, has approached the Special Court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai, seeking the dismissal of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) application to declare him a fugitive economic offender (FEO).

Through his counsel, Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, Choksi has argued that the legal basis for declaring him a fugitive is fundamentally flawed. He is currently lodged in a Belgian prison following his arrest recently, which was carried out on the basis of a non-bailable warrant issued by an Indian court and under an official extradition request made by the Indian government.

Aggarwal contended that Choksi is, therefore, in the “constructive custody” of Indian authorities.

“How can someone be considered a fugitive when he has been arrested at the behest of India and is in custody due to Indian proceedings?” Aggarwal said.

He further explained that under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, a person must meet two conditions: one is leaving India to avoid prosecution, and the second, refusing to return to face legal proceedings.

“In my client’s case, neither criterion is fulfilled,” Aggarwal stated. “He left India for medical treatment in New York with due police clearance from Mumbai, and at that time, no case had been filed against him. So the allegation that he fled to evade prosecution is baseless.”

As for his alleged refusal to return, Aggarwal pointed to a Dominican court order from 2021, issued after an alleged abduction attempt on Choksi. The order barred him from leaving Antigua, and significantly, it was passed in the presence of the CBI, effectively making it a restriction imposed with the knowledge of the Indian government.

Aggarwal stated that the FEO plea has been pending in the Mumbai court for years without resolution. “Now that my client has been arrested in Belgium, at India’s request, and remains in custody in Antwerp prison in relation to Indian charges, he is effectively under Indian jurisdiction,” he argued. “Judicial precedents recognise such custody as valid under Indian law. Hence, there’s no ground to continue the FEO proceedings.”

Simultaneously, Choksi is also fighting legal proceedings in Belgium. In a recent petition filed before the Belgian Court of Appeal—prepared by Advocate Aggarwal and submitted by his local legal team—Choksi has alleged that his arrest violated Belgian legal procedures and fundamental rights.

The plea claims that Belgian authorities failed to follow due process, infringing on Choksi’s basic legal protections and violating principles of natural justice. He has sought immediate release, citing these procedural lapses.

This petition follows the recent rejection of Choksi’s bail by a three-judge bench of the Belgian Court of Appeal, which conducted proceedings in Dutch. The court has yet to schedule the next hearing in the matter. (ANI)