Four months after a court in Antwerp ruled that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi can be extradited to India, the concerned Belgian ministry supposed to take a call on his repatriation is sitting on the decision and has said the matter is “still under examination”.
Mehul Choksi, 67, is held in a prison in Antwerp following his arrest on April 11 last year at India’s request. ( Priyanka Parashar/Mint)
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“The decision issued by the Indictment Chamber of the Antwerp Court of Appeal in April was an advisory opinion and did not constitute a final decision on the extradition request. The case is still under examination. At this stage, we are unable to provide any further information or comment,” said Sharon Beavis, spokesperson for the Belgian justice minister, Annelies Verlinden, in an email to HT.
Indian officials said the delay was unwarranted as they had already established a strong case with foolproof evidence against Choksi, based on which Antwerp court ruled that there is an applicable legal base to extradite the fugitive diamantaire to India.
“In any extradition case, the final decision is ultimately of the government of that country. We are waiting for the Belgian government to approve his extradition,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.
Antwerp court backs extradition
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“In any extradition case, the final decision is ultimately of the government of that country. We are waiting for the Belgian government to approve his extradition,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.
Antwerp court backs extradition
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On April 3 this year, an Antwerp court of appeal rendered an advice towards the Belgian government concerning the request made by the Indian authorities for the extradition of Mehul Choksi, based on the allegation of having committed the crimes of fraud, criminal conspiracy and forgery between December 31, 2016 and January 1, 2019 in India.
The court had also rejected Choksi’s claims that he was being targeted due to political reasons.
Choksi, 67, is held in a prison in Antwerp following his arrest on April 11 last year at India’s request. Indian investigators have accused Choksi of six bank frauds between 2018 and 2022 involving amounts totalling nearly ₹13,000 crore.
Charges cited in extradition request
His extradition was sought under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 477A (falsification of accounts), and sections 7 and 13 (bribery) of the Prevention of Corruption Act; which are crimes in Belgium as well under the dual criminality clause of the extradition treaty.
The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) were also invoked in the extradition request.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.
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Home/Business/Fugitive Mehul Choksi's extradition to India stalled as Belgian govt says case ‘still under examination’
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