Can Mehul Choksi use health and human rights as a shield against his extradition?

Seven years after he fled India, fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has finally been arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies.The 65-year-old is wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of ₹13,500 crore, along with his nephew Nirav Modi.The latter has been in a prison in London since 2019 when he was arrested at India’s instance on charges of fraud and escaping trial in India.Choksi was located in Belgium almost six months ago when he visited the country purportedly for medical treatment, following which Indian agencies sent a formal communiqué to Belgian authorities. He had been staying in Antigua since his escape from India in 2018.Minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary on April 14 lauded Choksi’s arrest, stating that it was a “very big achievement”.Choksi’s arrest will ensure that he remains in prison until the proceedings of his extradition are completed. However, bringing him back to India could be an uphill task as his lawyers will file an appeal on health grounds. He is believed to be suffering from blood cancer.They may also seek to cash in on a recent UK High Court order citing poor conditions in Indian prisons to deny India’s request for the extradition of Sanjay Bhandari, an arms dealer wanted by law.But first, how did Choksi pull off one of India’s biggest bank frauds? VIDEO | On fugitive Mehul Choksi's arrest in Belgium, Punjab National Bank Scam whistle-blower Hariprasad SV says, "It is a great news, finally India could arrest him in Belgium. Indian agencies had gone to Antigua and other islands, but we had to return empty handed. I hope this… pic.twitter.com/22m1oC67j7

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 14, 2025 What is the case against Choksi?Choksi, Nirav Modi, their family members and employees, bank officials and others were booked by the CBI and the ED in 2018 for perpetrating the alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of PNB in Mumbai.PNB is India’s second-largest state-run lender by assets.It was alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems and others “committed the offence… in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LoUs (letters of undertaking) issued and got the FLCs (foreign letters of credit) enhanced without following prescribed procedure and caused a wrongful loss to the bank”.An LoU is a commitment made by a bank on behalf of its client to a foreign bank. If the client fails to repay the foreign bank, the responsibility for the debt shifts to the bank that provided the guarantee.On the other hand, an FLC is a contractual commitment by the foreign buyer’s bank to pay once the exporter ships the goods and presents the required documentation to the exporter’s bank as proof, according to the International Trade Administration of the US government.According to the investigating agencies, officials at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai issued 165 LoUs and 58 FLCs during March-April 2017, against which 311 bills were discounted.These LoUs and FLCs were allegedly issued to Choksi’s firms without any sanctioned limit or cash margin and without making entries in PNB’s central banking system to evade any scrutiny in case of a default.Based on these LoUs by PNB, money was lent by State Bank of India, Frankfurt; SBI, Mauritius; Allahabad Bank, Hong Kong; Axis Bank, Hong Kong; Bank of India, Antwerp; and Canara Bank, Manama (Bahrain).The CBI has filed at least two chargesheets against Choksi in this case while the ED has lodged three such prosecution complaints.The ED has attached or seized assets worth ₹2,565.90 crore in the case against Choksi and the court has allowed “restitution” of these properties. medium120310713Choksi’s Caribbean escapeAfter the scam came to light in January 2018, Choksi fled to Antigua and Barbuda, a Caribbean nation where he had acquired citizenship.In February 2018, the CBI began efforts to trace Choksi. After confirming his presence in Antigua and Barbuda, a formal extradition request was sent to the Antiguan authorities through diplomatic channels in August that year.Choksi challenged the extradition move, claiming he was the victim of a political conspiracy. He also cited concerns about prison conditions in India, as well as issues related to his health and personal safety. Despite these objections, the Interpol Commission for Control of Files (CCF) approved the issuance of a Red Notice against him.In May 2021, Choksi was detained in Dominica for illegal entry. A CBI team travelled to the island nation to bring him back to India, but the effort was unsuccessful. Two months later, in July 2021, the Dominica High Court allowed Choksi to return to Antigua for medical treatment.How long will it take to extradite him?India and Belgium have a longstanding extradition treaty that enables the transfer of fugitives accused of serious crimes such as murder, rape, manslaughter, bigamy, forgery, counterfeiting, embezzlement, and fraud.However, given the high-profile nature of the case, Choksi’s extradition battle is expected to be prolonged.Formal paperwork is being done following the arrest/detention of Choksi. Legal and investigating teams of the ED and CBI will ensure their presence during the ongoing legal processes in Belgium where it is expected that Choksi may seek bail on health grounds.On February 28, Choksi informed a Mumbai court that he was undergoing treatment for blood cancer and was due to begin radiation therapy, thus making himself medically unfit to travel to India for trial.He also filed an application in a special Belgian court, claiming he has been suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and lymphoma since 2023. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/CjLb_zwmU98?si=Qg9BFjfHmvCIYVyIWill he play the ‘human rights’ card?Additionally, Choksi’s lawyers may seek to cash in on a recent UK High Court order citing poor conditions in Indian prisons to deny India’s request for the extradition of Sanjay Bhandari, an arms dealer wanted by law.Among other things, the UK High Court had referred to the revenge killing of gangster Tillu Tajpuria inside Delhi’s Tihar Jail, supposed to be a ‘maximum security prison’, to refuse India’s bid for Bhandari, allegedly the middleman in high-profile arms deals during the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance government.Belgian courts are not expected to be any less sensitive to ‘human rights issues’, increasingly being used as a stratagem by fugitives across geographies to avoid being brought to justice in the country where they committed the crime.In fact, Choksi’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, claimed on April 14 that his client’s “human rights” will be “greatly affected” if he is extradited to India.During a press conference, Aggarwal stated that the defence team would challenge the extradition on two primary grounds: the political nature of the case and concerns about the proper treatment for Choksi’s health condition in India.He further claimed that Choksi had not been declared a fugitive because he had remained cooperative with Indian probing agencies.Aggarwal was perhaps referring to the ED’s plea to declare Choksi a fugitive economic offender (FEO), which has been pending before a Mumbai court for nearly seven years.The anti-money laundering agency had filed the application in July 2018, seeking to declare Choksi an FEO and confiscate his assets under provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.However, the matter has witnessed repeated delays owing to a barrage of applications filed by the accused in the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court and the Bombay High Court alleging procedural lapses in the ED’s plea. medium120309396How Nirav Modi lost extradition appealNirav Modi fled India in 2018 before details of his alleged role in the case became public. He was arrested in Britain in 2019 and remains in custody there.The fugitive duo, Modi and Choksi, hired Edward Fitzgerald, one of Britain’s most formidable barristers, to represent them in their respective extradition proceedings. Fitzgerald is jokingly called the “devil’s advocate”, having represented controversial figures like “hate preacher” Abu Qatada and convicted terrorist Abu Hamza.But Modi lost his appeal to take his fight against extradition before the UK Supreme Court. Although he has no legal options left in the UK now, Modi is yet to be extradited to India as his request for political asylum is pending with the UK government.With inputs from agencies