Another setback to Mehul Choksi: Belgian court rejects fresh bail plea of key accused in PNB scam case

Another setback to Mehul Choksi: Belgian court rejects fresh bail plea of key accused in PNB scam case

Belgian court has rejected the fugitive diamonds trader Mehul Choksi’s bail plea while citing his past attempts to evade law, officials said. This comes after the Court of Cassation in Belgium turned down his previous bail application, PTI reported.

The court dismissed the appeal based on compelling reasons provided by the CBI to the Belgian authorities, highlighting that Choksi had previously fled from multiple jurisdictions to avoid legal action and might attempt to escape to another country if granted bail, they stated.

Mehul Choksi’s fresh application

Choksi submitted a fresh bail application on August 22, proposing to be placed under house arrest with home surveillance, but the appeal court rejected it earlier this week, officials mentioned, saying the extradition case for the 66-year-old Choksi, who owns the Gitanjali Group, is scheduled to be heard in a Belgian court in mid-September.

The CBI will support the Belgian prosecution in presenting a robust case to have him extradited to India to stand trial for the charges against him, the report noted.

Choksi, wanted in India in connection with more than ₹6300-crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank (PNB), was arrested in April on the after Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) sent an extradition request.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are sought after in connection with the alleged ₹13,000 crore fraud at PNB, which they allegedly orchestrated through fraudulent Letters of Undertaking in collusion with certain bank officials at the Brady House branch in Mumbai.

Modi, who has been declared a fugitive economic offender, has been imprisoned in London since his arrest in 2019, following a request from the ED and CBI. He is currently contesting his extradition to India.

The CBI dispatched a team to Brussels, where they provided the Belgian prosecution with case details, evidence, and documents. The prosecution will present the case, and the CBI plans to engage a European law firm to assist in the process, the report added.

Choksi faces charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including criminal conspiracy, cheating, and falsification of accounts, as well as provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act. These offenses are also recognised in Belgium, which supports invoking the dual criminality clause in the extradition treaty as part of the efforts to secure his extradition, PTI report said.

The CBI has also referenced the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in its extradition request. Indian authorities have shared at least two open-ended arrest warrants, issued by a special court in Mumbai in 2018 and 2021, with their Belgian counterparts as part of the extradition process.

SOURCE: MINT