Mehul Choksi
Mehul Choksi should be deported to India: Dominica govt tells court
New Delhi/IBNS: The Dominican government has stated to the court that fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi, wanted in a bank fraud case, should be deported to India, media reports said.
The Dominican Public Prosecution Service has told the High Court that the petition filed by the 62-year-old is not maintainable and it should not be heard, said reports.
Meanwhile, India is pressing for his early deportation, arguing that he continues to be an Indian citizen, a government official has told NDTV channel.
Mehul Choksi is currently in Dominica jail, where he was captured while trying to flee from Antigua to Cuba.
A local court in Dominica had earlier put his deportation on hold after his lawyers claimed that he cannot be sent to India as he is no longer a citizen of the country.
Choksi's team comprising Queen's Counsels Justin Simon and John Carrington is arguing that he had been abducted and brought to Dominica.
If the court accepts this argument, Choksi will be sent back to Antigua, where he had obtained citizenship and escaped before he could be brought to book in India.
Choksi, who is wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), fled to Antigua and Barbuda in 2018.
He was born in India but escaped to Antigua after defrauding Punjab National Bank of about Rs 14,000 crore along with his nephew Nirav Modi and others.
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