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Mehul Choksi still in Dominica hospital; status changes from police custody to jail
Mehul Choksi, 62, who went missing from Antigua on May 23, has alleged that he was abducted by police officials from India and Antigua and brought to Dominica in a vessel, a charge rejected by both Antiguan and Indian officials.
New Delhi: The magistrate’s court in Dominica’s Roseau on Thursday changed Mehul Choksi’s custody from police custody to prison even as the businessman continues to be under treatment at the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital where his health has deteriorated, people familiar with the developments said.
As soon as he gets better, he will be sent to the state prison in the illegal entry case filed by the Dominica police, they said.
Choksi is produced in the magistrate court, either virtually or physically, every two-three days on orders of the judge.
The court has already rejected his plea for bail, underlining that he is a flight risk and has no ties to the country. The next hearing in the magistrate’s court in the illegal entry case is scheduled on June 25. The Eastern Caribbean High Court has adjourned his habeas corpus plea and may take it up on July 1.
Choksi, 62, who went missing from Antigua on May 23, has alleged that he was abducted by police officials from India and Antigua and brought to Dominica in a vessel, a charge rejected by both Antiguan and Indian officials.
New Delhi has sought his deportation on the ground that he was the key accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud worth ₹950 million. India has countered assertions that he had given up his Indian citizenship, pointing out that his declaration to renounce his citizenship was never accepted by the ministry of home affairs and this decision was conveyed to him as well. Choksi fled India on January 4, 2018.
Dominica too, while referring to him as an “Indian” citizen, has said he entered the country illegally.
In its complaint filed in the illegal entry case, Dominica police has claimed “Mehul Choksi entered the state of Commonwealth of Dominica at a place - Toucari Bay - not approved as a port of entry, contrary to the provisions of Immigration and Passport Act”.
On June 10, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also filed a fresh chargesheet against Choksi providing additional evidence to an Indian court to allege that he knew about investigations against him much before fleeing and started destroying evidence with the help of his associates.
His lawyer Vijay Aggarwal rejected India’s argument that Choksi continued to be a citizen of India, calling India’s reliance on various rules “fractured understanding of law.”
Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne has already said the island nation will not take the fugitive back.
The ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said “the criminal charges that Mehul Choksi faces in India and the facts relating to his continued Indian citizenship have been suitably brought to the attention of the authorities in the Commonwealth of Dominica,” he said.
“Choksi continues to be in the custody of authorities in the Commonwealth of Dominica and legal proceedings are underway. The Government of India is actively engaged with the Dominican government to seek the early deportation or handing over to India of Mehul Choksi to face justice in our country.”
