Mehul Choksi Sues Indian Government in UK, Claims Trauma and Seeks Millions

SUNDAY GUARDIAN-NEW DELHI: In what is being seen as a last act of a well thought-out elaborate plan, spread across more than four years since he was allegedly abducted, fugitive criminal and one of India’s most wanted, Mehul Choksi, is suing the Government of India and five other individuals in the United Kingdom seeking a damage of Rs 3.60 crore for what he will allege was mental, physical, and psychological trauma caused due to Government of India’s action.
This development is unlikely to come as positive news for the UK’s Keir Starmer administration and the ongoing Free Trade Agreement talks between the two countries. Choksi on 9 September filed a lawsuit against the Indian government through the Ministry of External Affairs.

AIMING TO DELAY EXTRADITION
The filing of Choki’s suit is likely intended to delay his extradition to India by invoking the UK courts and unleashing a media blitzkrieg in his favour by using psychiatric evaluation reports, backed by a well-funded PR campaign and bringing in lawyers and law firms who have a track record of first delaying and then completely denying the extradition of their clients.
One of the possible reasons behind his strategy to use the UK court as a forum is Choksi’s belief that the UK political and administrative system will easily grant him asylum in the near future.
This is despite the fact that the incident he is relying on to escape his extradition—“an alleged kidnapping plot executed by Indian intelligence agencies”—happened not in the UK but in Antigua and Barbuda.
Choksi is currently based in Antwerp, Belgium, and receiving treatment at ZNA (Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen), a public hospital network in Belgium for multiple ailments that he has been suffering for a long time now.
Choksi, the youngest of six siblings, has a brother in Belgium. His brother-in-law, Hani, remarried after his sister’s death and is also settled in Belgium. His brother, Chetan Chinu Bhai Choksi, also resides in Antwerp. India has a long standing extradition treaty with both the UK and Belgium.

LEGAL PROCESS IN UK: A LONG ROAD AHEAD
On 9 September, Choksi’s counsel, led by the London-based law firm Simon Muirhead & Burton, along with its associates David Edward Phillips and counsels Edward Fitzgerald and Graeme Hall, submitted the “Particulars of Claim” to the High Court, King’s Bench Division.
This is a formal legal document submitted by the claimant (Choksi in this case), which is used to inform the defendant and the court about the nature of the dispute and the reasons why the claimant is seeking legal action. It is part of the formal procedure for initiating a lawsuit.
The claim was filed against Defendant 1, Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, 74B, South Block, New Delhi via the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. The other five individuals against whom the claim has been filed are Gurdip Bath, Barbara Jarabik, Leslie Farrow Guy, Gumit Singh and Gurjit Bhandal, all of whom have been shown as residents of the United Kingdom.
After the Particulars of Claim are submitted to the High Court, the legal process proceeds through several stages. First, the defendant is served with the claim and must file an Acknowledgment of Service within 14 days, confirming receipt of the claim. If the defendant intends to defend the case, they must then file a Defence within an additional 14 days.
After receiving the Defence, the court reviews the case to determine its jurisdiction and the validity of the claim, and may schedule a case management hearing to set deadlines and address any preliminary issues. In some cases, a preliminary hearing is held to resolve issues such as jurisdiction or the sufficiency of evidence, and the court may issue directions for further documentation, witness statements, or settlement discussions.
The court then engages in case management, organizing timelines for documents, witness lists, and expert reports, and may encourage the parties to consider alternative dispute resolution (ADR) like mediation.
The court does not immediately decide whether the case has merit based on the Particulars of Claim alone; it assesses whether the claimant has sufficient evidence, whether the defendant has a valid defence, and whether any legal grounds exist to dismiss the claim. If the case is not dismissed or settled, it proceeds to trial, where both parties present their arguments and evidence.

It is understood that the process initiated by Choksi will not start before May next year, and once it starts, Choksi has the option to challenge the decision of the High Court at the Court of Appeal, which is the first stage of appeal, and then he can also move the Supreme Court. This entire process, in the normal course, will take at least three to four years.
In his suit, Choksi has claimed general damages, including significant distress, anxiety, and medical ailments caused by the period of detention and subsequent release, as well as special damages. These include the cost of accommodation, travel costs, miscellaneous expenses, and medical expenses incurred by him due to the abduction and its aftermath.
The damages, which amount to £337,918, have been claimed from the Government of India and five other individuals, who, according to Choksi’s allegations, were part of the plot to abduct him from Antigua and Barbuda in May 2021 and transport him to Dominica.
The claimed damage amounts are literally peanuts for Choksi, who fled India after defrauding Punjab National Bank of around $2 billion or Rs 13,500 crore of public money.
As per UK legal experts, in case the defendants choose not to respond, then the Court can give a default judgement.

That could be another reason for Choksi involving the UK court. If he wins in the UK, he will use it as a precedent to strengthen his arguments in Antigua and Barbuda and if the defendants do not respond, the UK Court is likely to give a default judgement which will be most likely in the defendants (Choksi’s) favour.
If the case goes to trial, questions are also likely to be raised about Choksi and his lawyers not addressing the fact that during 2020-2021 (when the alleged plan to kidnap him was being made), flights were extremely limited from the UK due to Covid related restrictions.
Details accessed by the newspapers show how Choksi has made claims that some of the defendants took the same flights backwards (Antigua-UK-Antigua) and rented apartments in close proximity to each other. All these claims do not pass the “common sense” test.
Using this “evidence”, Choksi has his lawyers pushing the INTERPOL for issue of red notice and extradition request against the defendants including relevant Indian officials.

FORUM SHOPPING
In the claims, he has provided a detailed breakdown of medical expenses for treatments, including costs related to a hematoma, cataract treatment, dental and orthopaedic treatment, MRI scans, and other medical interventions in multiple countries. Additionally, the breakdown includes significant travel and accommodation costs associated with the fallout of his abduction and subsequent legal proceedings. These costs include expenses for renting accommodation, private security, medical treatments, and miscellaneous costs, all converted into GBP.

The fact that he has approached the UK court, when the alleged abduction took place in Antigua, of a citizen who has Antiguan citizenship, and is being assisted by high-profile UK based lawyers strongly suggests that despite the UK court having no jurisdiction in this case, he has indulged in forum shopping to delay his extradition, much like many other Indian fugitives hiding in the UK, including arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, disgraced businessman Vijay Mallya, and former Indian naval officer, Lieutenant (Retired) Ravi Shankaran, the main accused in the Naval War Room leak.

As per documents accessed by The Sunday Guardian, Choksi was granted Antiguan citizenship on 10 November 2017 and the Antiguan passport on 16 November 2017. Significantly, Choksi has filed a case in Antigua too, which has led to a delay in his extradition, accusing the government of not doing enough to investigate his alleged abduction.
The said abduction, according to Choksi’s claim, happened in a private area with CCTV and secured gates at 5 p.m. in daylight, and yet no one ever heard or saw 8-10 “big musclemen” in that area.

MEDIA INFLUENCE AND PR STRATEGY
Choksi and his team of advisors, including lawyers and private investigators, have time and again shown how effectively they have used UK-based media to build a narrative in his favour, including a narrative that his abduction was planned in the UK, without submitting any proof to substantiate this claim.
Choksi has earlier used medical reasons and the risk associated with flying to challenge his extradition in the Antigua court. However, the same Choksi has been taking long-hour flights from one country to another, including from Antigua to London and to Belgium.
As a well-planned strategy to use the UK as a forum to delay extradition, Choksi used the services of two psychiatrists to prepare reports claiming that he has developed mental health issues. Both of these reports were prepared by UK-based specialists on the direction of Choksi’s lawyers, which raises the question: why the UK, and why on the advice of his lawyers, rather than suo-motu by Choksi or his relatives or friends?

PSYCHIATRIC REPORTS AND LEGAL TACTICS
One such report that has been presented to court is from Dr Richard Latham, a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, who prepared a psychiatric report for Mehul Choksi following a 2.40-hour assessment on 30 April 2024. The report suggests that similar psychological assessments were conducted in August 2021, and a report was prepared in July 2022. Since July 2023, he has been receiving ongoing psychiatric treatment. Dr Latham found that Choksi has developed mental disorders, including depression and PTSD.
Another report was prepared by Christine Tizzard, who was instructed in August 2021 by Choksi’s lawyers to conduct a psychological assessment of Mehul Choksi. The assessment was carried out over several months, with three meetings held during this period. Additionally, Choksi was assessed further in September 2021, and the final assessment took place in February 2022. The report concludes that Mehul Choksi has been diagnosed with severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Observers believe that Choksi’s main strategy till now has been to use medical issues and “human rights” to challenge his extradition, along with ongoing courts by suing everyone he can, and his lawyers too sent him to a private psychologist for a few sessions to get a report written specifically for legal purposes.

INTERPOL UNDER WATCH
An analysis of how things have moved in the case of Choksi, who has a tremendous amount of ill-gotten wealth at his disposal, presents an interesting picture.
It is likely that Choksi’s medical report (July 2022) was made keeping in mind INTERPOL’s General Assembly that was held in New Delhi from 18-22 October 2022. The said report was submitted to INTERPOL Commission for the Control of Files (CCF), which is an independent body within INTERPOL that reviews and assesses the legality and appropriateness of requests made by member countries to add or maintain individuals on Interpol’s databases. The CCF oversees the handling of Red Notices and other files related to wanted persons, including requests from countries to have individuals placed on the Interpol Red Notice list.
It is pertinent to mention that Choksi’s name from the RCN list was deleted on 14 October before INTERPOL officials met in Delhi. It was however announced publicly in March 2023, just before the Antiguan High Court hearing, possibly to influence the ruling that was yet to come.

The Red Corner Lookout Notice was issued against Choksi in December 2018. The Sunday Guardian had revealed INTERPOL’s sudden decision to drop the RCN in a series of reports done in March 2023.
After the Antiguan court in March 2023 decided that the decision of the Antiguan Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police to not investigate Choksi’s alleged kidnapping was wrong, the news was widely published in the UK, including in prominent newspapers.
After INTERPOL deleted Chokis’s name from the RCN, the name of one of the defendants who had served the claim in September for damages, was added on 18 November 2022.

HUMAN RIGHTS ARGUMENTS
In November 2021, as part of another well-planned strategy to influence the UK courts, Choksi approached the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in the Americas, including North, South, and Central America, as well as the Caribbean. He filed a complaint against the Antiguan government for their inaction in investigating his alleged abduction.
His petition was filed by a Belgium-based lawyer, Ludovic Hennebel. On 20 October 2023, IACHR gave its order. Antigua had argued that Choksi had not exhausted domestic remedies, while Choksi contended that no effective remedies were available. Choksi’s complaints focused on the failure of Antigua to investigate his alleged abduction, mistreatment, and forced rendition, as well as the revocation of his citizenship and extradition efforts.

The IACHR acknowledged that a criminal investigation should be conducted promptly in cases involving serious human rights violations like abduction and mistreatment. Although the State had initiated an investigation, it remained pending despite identifying possible suspects. The Commission noted that Choksi had filed an “effective inquiry claim” in the courts, which was still pending. Therefore, the Commission concluded that the State had not completed an effective investigation into the alleged violations and applied the exception of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies due to the lack of an effective investigation, deeming the petition timely.
Regarding Choksi’s challenges to his extradition and citizenship revocation, the Commission found the remedies ineffective, noting they had not been pursued or invoked adequately. Therefore, these claims were declared inadmissible due to the failure to exhaust domestic remedies. However, the petition regarding the alleged abduction and mistreatment was deemed admissible. While the findings of the IACHR are not enforceable yet Choksi approached them so that its orders can be used later to buttress his claims in the UK court.

CHOKSI’S INTERNATIONAL LEGAL AND PR BATTLE
It is believed that two prominent media groups based in the United Kingdom—whose names are known to those involved in the case—are being used by Choksi and his team to build a narrative in his favour. While there is no proof, it is believed that a substantial amount has been spent to purchase the said narrative, raising questions on editorial control or the lack of it in these two publications.
Observers have noted how these two organizations have reportedly framed the situation in a manner sympathetic to Choksi. It is suspected that this media coverage is part of a broader strategy by Choksi’s team to establish jurisdictional ties and build public opinion in his favour. Apart from the media, Choksi and his lawyers are invoking human rights violations, challenging extradition based on medical conditions, and filing lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions to stall proceedings.
“They have tried everything—from citing human rights violations to suing the Antigua Police for not investigating, claiming medical inability to fly to India, and now filing a civil case in the UK. It’s clearly a calculated chess game,” an observer said.
He is basically winning time with “medical excuses” and then “human rights,” continuously suing someone in courts in Antigua, Dominica, and the UK. He is also likely to involve the court in Antwerp as a part of his strategy to delay his extradition.

BACKGROUND OF LAWYER REPRESENTING CHOKSI
One of the lawyers who is representing Choksi in the UK is Edward Fitzgerald, who has in the past represented Myra Hindley, who was one of the two individuals responsible for the infamous Moors Murders in the 1960s. Along with her partner Ian Brady, she was involved in the abduction, torture, and murder of five children between 1963 and 1965 in Greater Manchester, England. The victims were aged between 10 and 17.
He has also represented Abu Hamza, a radical Islamic preacher who gained notoriety in the UK for his extreme views and advocacy of violence. Fitzgerald has also represented Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy. Fitzgerald is regarded for challenging extradition requests and ensuring the deletion of Interpol Red Notices.
Apart from media and lawyers, Choksi is also using the services of a corporate advisory firm based in Asia, specializing in providing strategic guidance to businesses operating in the region. The firm typically offers a variety of services such as risk management, crisis management, and reputation management, which is regarded for “compiling dossiers.”

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