Caribbean court stays immediate repatriation of Mehul Choksi to India

Justice Birnie Stephenson of the ECSC ruled the Dominica police will not remove Choksi until further orders or the hearing of the writ. She directed Choksi’s full access to his attorneys, according to a copy of her order reviewed by HT and reports in the local media

The top court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States has stayed immediate repatriation of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi even as Indian investigators have pushed for it since he was captured in Dominica after going missing from Antigua & Barbuda. The order came after Choksi’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus, or writ seeking to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine if the person’s imprisonment or detention is lawful, in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC). ECSC has jurisdiction over six independent states including Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica.

Mehul Choksi. (HT file)

Justice Birnie Stephenson of the ECSC ruled the Dominica police will not remove Choksi until further orders or the hearing of the writ. She directed Choksi’s full access to his attorneys, according to a copy of her order reviewed by HT and reports in the local media. Stephenson will hear the matter again on Friday at 9 am Dominica time (6:30 pm IST).

Officials in New Delhi monitoring the developments in the case said they are in touch with Dominica to seek Choksi’s repatriation to India on the basis of an Interpol notice as there is no extradition arrangement between the two countries.

Choksi’s lawyers--Wayne Marsh in Dominica and Vijay Aggarwal (India)--have alleged their client was abducted from Antigua and Barbuda, the country of his citizenship, and taken to Dominica illegally on Sunday. They claimed Choksi was tortured and not allowed to speak with his family. The lawyers said his deportation to India would be illegal as he is no longer an Indian citizen.

Dominica’s Criminal Investigation Division apprehended Indian-born Choksi, who fled the country in 2018 after being charged in the ₹13,578 Punjab National Bank cheating case, on the Caribbean island on Tuesday on the basis of an Interpol “yellow notice”. He went missing on Sunday evening from Antigua, roughly 101 nautical miles away.

Marsh told local media on Thursday that Indian and Antiguan police officials allegedly abducted Choksi on Sunday and brought him to Dominica on a vessel. “His left eye was swollen, and his face was severely bruised. He appeared weak and feeble and there were several marks on his body. He could barely stand from the mattress on the ground,” Marsh told dominicanewsonline.com. He added Choksi informed them that he was on his way to dinner when seven to eight men dressed in blue, who sounded like Indians and Antiguan police officers, placed a bag over his head. The officers allegedly forced him onto a sailing vessel that carried a Dominican flag. Wayne alleged his client was “beaten, shocked in the eye with an electrical device and other parts of his body.”

Choksi’s lawyers have contended that his repatriation to India may be legally complicated, especially because India does not have an extradition treaty with Dominica and Choksi currently is Antiguan and Barbuda national.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne told reporters on Thursday that he has requested Dominica to declare Choksi as persona non grata and send him to India. “We asked them [Dominica] not to repatriate him to Antigua. He needs to return to India where he can face the criminal charges levelled against him,” Browne said. Browne added that Choksi had made a monumental error by fleeing to Dominica.

Dominica’s acting police chief Lincoln Corbette told HT the fugitive businessman will be repatriated to Antigua and Barbuda after ascertaining all the facts. A Dominica government statement on Thursday also suggested the same while calling Choksi an “Indian citizen”. It confirmed he has been detained for illegal entry into Dominica. The statement said Dominica was in communication with the authorities of Antigua and Barbuda to ascertain some facts “including the status of his Antiguan citizenship”.

“Once the information is provided by the Antigua authorities, possible arrangements will be made for Mr Mehul Choksi to be repatriated to Antigua,” the statement added.

Antigua and Barbuda has said that it was ready to extradite Choksi to India, for which the process is already on. His extradition case as well as revocation of citizenship is currently being pursued in a court there, which he has challenged.