Antigua may send Mehul Choksi to India within a few months – reports

7

(Sunday Guardian)

There is a very strong possibility that Mehul Choksi, a prime accused in the US$ 2 billion PNB scam, may be extradited to India well before the 2019 general elections, as the island country of Antigua and Barbuda, where Choksi is presently staying, is moving fast to send him back.

With the imminent threat of being extradited to India hanging on his head, Choksi has challenged the Antigua and Barbuda government’s “proposed” move. His lawyer, Dr David Dorsett recently filed a suit against the Antiguan minister responsible for external affairs, including citizenship. The matter first came up for hearing on 14 November before Justice Rita Joseph Olivetti in the High Court there and again on 12 December.

Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Dr Dorsett said that they challenged Section 9 (4) of Antigua & Barbuda’s Extradition Act of 1993 as they believed that it gave the Minister of Foreign Affairs virtually unlimited discretion to issue an authority to proceed.

“On 12 December, we had filed an application at the High Court to introduce an independent expert on India law which was denied by the court. We wanted the court to determine that whether the extradition request made by the Indian government based on Indian laws are valid or not to extradite someone from here. We now will move to the Court of Appeal for which the date, 22 January 2019, has been given. It is on this date that the court will decide whether the expert witness can be allowed or not. If we are not successful there, then we will approach the Privy Council”, Dorsett told The Sunday Guardian.

According to him, the Antiguan government has given an undertaking to the court that they will not proceed with any matter relating to Choksi’s extradition until the legal issues have been resolved.

Sources aware of the matter said that since the ground for extraditing Choksi was very strong, the legal system in Antigua and Barbuda was unlikely to take a sympathetic view in the matter and once the matter was decided by the Privy Council—by February-March—his extradition would then be a matter of days.

Asked about Choksi’s fugitive status in India, Dorsett said that his legal team was not concerned about what was happening in India as far as his client was concerned. “We are focused on what is happening here. We have challenged the proposed action (extradition),” he told this correspondent.

Official sources monitoring the developments in Delhi stated that Choksi was trying to stall the extradition process but they were not worried as he was only availing the legal remedies available to him under the Antiguan laws.

“This (Choksi challenging his extradition) is on expected lines. We have done our homework and have presented the complete and comprehensive details to the Antiguan government regarding the crimes committed by Choksi here. They have assured us that the due process of law will be followed in the case,” said a source here.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]

7 COMMENTS

  1. Choksi is innocent and a victim of a political vendetta in India. Everyone knows that India has the most corrupt government in the world. Protect Choksi, our fellow Antigua citizen.

  2. MOCKERY OF THE JUDICIARY

    Bad move to give ‘…undertaking not to proceed with extradition proceedings,’ until the fugitive runs the authorities out of ‘…legal breath’ or until he runs out of ‘…legal options.’

    Was not a ‘…Warrant of Arrest’ reportedly issued for an alleged female fraudster?

    Not sure how these can be reconciled, for it seems that one can ‘…Stay and Fight,’ while the other must ‘…Take Flight and Hide.’

    CONTRADICTORY
    If the local legal team representing the alleged ‘…fraudster and fugitive from justice’ were not concerned with what Indian authorities do in India, ‘…Why would the local Court, more so, Justice Rita Olivetti that has no jurisdiction in India, concern herself with Indian law? While it appears ‘…Contradictory,’ it also shows the making of ‘…Mockery of the Judiciary.’

    By now the authorities shall know that Mehul Choksi was reported to have plenty of money.
    This could guarantee him a ‘…very long run,’ and as indicated in this news story, it could be a lengthy and costly run to,

    (a) …The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC); and

    (b) …The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC).

    The authorities here should proceed under the Extradition Act, and let the ‘…alleged’ fugitive do as ‘…Leroy King had done.’

    They shall not allow Mehul Choksi, no matter how wealthy, to dictate policy- domestic or foreign for the administration, the nation and people.

    They shall also not wait until the eve of General Elections to make determinations as to whether the ‘…alleged fraudster stays or extradited.’

    They shall not only show that they have ‘…testicular,’ but also ‘…administrative fortitude.’

    • Choksi WILL ONLY BE CHUCKED UNDER A DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATION….

      INDIA SHOULD DO LIKE THE AMERICANS COME IN GET THEIR MAN AND LEAVE WITHIN 20 MINS.

      They could call the operation CUTEKSI.

  3. Is this article the joke of the year? Editor.
    The man did his due diligence on the most corrupt country in the world.

  4. Before the 2019 general elections… do u guys proof read ur articles before posting … at least get our election dates correctly … election are due In Antigua and Barbuda in 2022 and poor Lovell talking about rescue …. boss you leave young people subbin alone.

  5. If you can not have dual citizenship in India when he got his citizenship in Antigua didn’t that cancel his Indian citizenship? So that means they want an Antigua citizen? I’m just asking.

Comments are closed.