Fugitive Mehul Choksi files appeal in Belgium Supreme Court against extradition

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has moved the Supreme Court of Belgium against an order allowing his extradition to India in connection with the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, officials said on Monday.

Choksi filed an appeal in the Court of Cassation, the country’s top court, on October 30, challenging the October 17 ruling of the Antwerp Court of Appeals that had termed India’s extradition request “enforceable.”

Ken Witpas, public prosecutor at the Antwerp Court of Appeal, told news agency PTI that the appeal is limited to legal merits and that the extradition process will remain suspended until the case is decided.

Earlier, a four-member indictment chamber at the Antwerp Court of Appeals upheld a November 2024 order of the district court that validated arrest warrants issued by a Mumbai special court in May 2018 and June 2021, paving the way for Choksi’s extradition. The court also ruled that he faced “no risk” of being denied a fair trial or subjected to ill-treatment if extradited to India.

According to the CBI chargesheet, Choksi is accused of siphoning off Rs 6,400 crore out of the total Rs 13,000-crore scam involving PNB. He fled to Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018, just before the scam came to light, and was later traced to Belgium, where he reportedly went for medical treatment.

India submitted its extradition request to Belgium on August 27, 2024. The pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp District Court, Turnhout Division, had subsequently declared the Mumbai arrest warrants enforceable, barring one related to “causing the disappearance of evidence.”

Officials said India has provided multiple assurances to Belgium on Choksi’s safety, human rights, medical care, and the fairness of judicial proceedings upon his return.

- Ends

With PTI inputs

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