Fugitive diamond trader accused of India’s biggest bank scam mehul choksi Has received a setback from a Belgian court. The court in Antwerp, while lifting the ban on his extradition, said that India’s demand is legitimate and his arrest is legally correct. This brought great relief to India in bringing back Choksi.

But the story does not end here, the real game can begin now. Even after this decision of the court, Mehul Choksi still has many legal options and ways of defence, through which he can postpone his return for some more time.

13,000 crore scam

Mehul Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused of committing a scam of about ₹ 13,000 crore from Punjab National Bank. With this money, both of them funded their companies abroad and escaped from India. CBI’s charge sheet claims that Choksi alone embezzled Rs 6,400 crore. Nirav Modi had a role in the remaining amount, who is currently in London jail and extradition process is going on against him also.

Mehul Choksi has defensive tactics

• Choksi still has the right to appeal to the Belgian High Court. If he loses there too, he can go to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) or the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). By filing each appeal case strategically, they can drag out the process for months or years. This is the same legal strategy adopted by many other fugitive economic offenders.


• Choksi’s oldest and most important defense has been that he is no longer an Indian citizen. He took Antigua and Barbuda citizenship in 2017 and gave up Indian citizenship in 2018. Through this argument they can say that India no longer has rights over them because they are citizens of a foreign country.


• The health method has been used in criminal cases for a long time. Mehul Choksi has been postponing court appearances in the past also citing health reasons. He may again say that he has serious illnesses and traveling may put his life at risk.

In which jail of India will Mehul Choksi stay?

India also made it clear in the Belgian court that if Mehul Choksi is brought to India, he will not be subjected to any inhuman treatment. The government said that he was lodged in barrack no. of Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai. 12, which is safe and equipped with facilities as per European standards. Here he will get clean drinking water, food, doctor’s facilities, the right to watch newspapers and TV, and family-medical support. India also reiterated that he will neither be kept in solitary confinement nor subjected to any kind of torture.