‘A diplomatic victory,’ Foreign Affairs Expert on Choksi’s provisional arrest

NEW DELHI: Foreign Affairs Expert Robinder Sachdev said the UK government’s decision to arrest Mehul Choksi, albeit provisionally, was welcome.

Sachdev, said that the arrest is a diplomatic win more so because a year back, the government had struck Choksi’s name off its Red Corner Notice Alert.

“Certainly there is a very welcome development that Mehul Choksi has been arrested provisionally by the Belgian authorities on India’s request. It is a diplomatic victory. It is a victory for us and the legal team that has been working on this along with a foreign office, etc.

Sachdev said that Choksi alleged that Indian authorities tried to kidnap him in Goa and appealed to Interpol.

#WATCH | Delhi | On fugitive Mehul Choksi’s arrest in Belgium, Foreign Affairs Expert Robinder Sachdev says, “It is a welcome development that Mehul Choksi has been arrested provisionally by the Belgian authorities on india’s request. It is a diplomatic victory. It is a victory… pic.twitter.com/aqjVUy44s7

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“More so because one year ago, Interpol had taken Mehul Choksi’s name off its Red Corner Notice Alert for some reasons. Basically, Choksi alleged that Indian agents were trying to kidnap him in Goa and multiple other things, so he appealed to Interpol. So they took out his name from the Red Corner Alert. So there after it was Indian agency where there were tracking and talked to get him to then best the tread up to Belgium. Talked with the Belgian authorities worked great have worked very deeply close and we see what we see today,” he said.

Sachdev said that Belgium would follow its own course for justice for Choksi.

“In Belgium, the law will follow its own course. So it will not be very soon, perhaps that we will see Mehul Choksi back home in India. But the process will start moving very fast,” he said.

Sachdev further said that Choksi may try to evade the course of justice by citing his health conditions, which suggests that he is suffering from an advanced stage of blood cancer. The second thing he may cite is the fact that the Indian authorities tried to ‘kidnap’ him in Dominica.

“What Mehul Choksi would claim and his plea will be his health. Apparently, he is suffering from blood cancer. So his lawyers are going to the cite that is the number one issue. The second issue that they will cite to the Belgian authorities against being extradited is that you know Indian agents tried to kidnap him in Dominica, which is a wholeheartedly made-up story. That will be a process that will take time, but I think India will follow it diligently, and we will hope to see him in India soon,” he said.

The 65-year-old fugitive diamond merchant who left India on January 2, 2018, is wanted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly defrauding the PNB of Rs 13,850 crore. His nephew, Nirav Modi, was also involved with him in the fraud.

Choksi allegedly connived with his associates and other Punjab National Bank (PNB) officials from 2014 to 2017 and fraudulently obtained Letters of Undertaking and Foreign Letters of Credit from PNB, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs. 6097.63 crore to PNB. (ANI)