The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday rejected the plea of Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems, for cancellation of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) in a money laundering case against him.
The order will pave the way for a hearing on the plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to declare Choksi a fugitive economic offender, as he has failed to answer summons and fled the country.
The hearing on the ED’s plea is likely to resume on Monday.
Choksi’s lawyers, Vijay Agrawal and Rahul Agrawal, had contended that the court needs to decide on their plea for cancellation of the warrant filed in July 2018 before hearing the ED’s plea.
In his plea, he claimed that had no intention to cheat and run away. “If the applicant had the intention to run away from the jurisdiction of this court or the country, he would not have left property worth crores in the country, which is clear as the ED has seized articles worth more than ₹5,000 crore,” the plea states.
Choksi said he had a medical condition for which he had gone out of the country but was reluctant to return as he claimed a threat of him being lynched in prison.
{{/usCountry}}Choksi said he had a medical condition for which he had gone out of the country but was reluctant to return as he claimed a threat of him being lynched in prison.
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