CBI plea: Declare Mehul Choksi proclaimed offender

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday moved court with a plea to declare fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi a proclaimed offender since he has failed

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday moved court with a plea to declare fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi a proclaimed offender since he has failed to returned to India. Choksi is a key accused in the ₹14,000-crore Punjab National Bank PNB bank fraud case.

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Choksi had previously submitted a plea for the cancellation of the non-bailable warrant issued against him by the special CBI Court, which the agency opposed in court on Thursday. Limosin argued that Choksi has not returned to India despite several intimations and contended that the warrant against him cannot be cancelled until he appears before the court.

“Choksi has already taken citizenship of Antigua, one of the Caribbean islands, in order to avoid execution of warrant issued by the court. Hence it is humbly requested that proclamation and attachment of properties of Mehul Choksi be ordered against them,” reads the CBI’s application. Special public prosecutor A Limosin submitted the plea before a special court on Thursday.

The agency had filed similar plea last month for Nirav Modi, who is facing extradition from the United Kingdom. Both the pleas are now scheduled for hearing next week. Besides CBI’s plea, enforcement directorate is seeking to declare Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi fugitive economic offenders as this declaration would enable the ED to confiscate their assets in India as well as abroad.