Indian Team To Travel To Belgium Ahead Of Mehul Choksi’s Bail Hearing Amid Extradition Push

As fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi prepares to appeal against his arrest in Belgium, Indian government sources on Monday indicated that a multi-agency team will visit the country ahead of the bail hearing next week.

According to the officials, Choksi’s bail plea will be heard next week in a local court. The development comes as the fugitive was arrested on Sunday on India’s extradition request for his role in the PNB bank loan ‘fraud’ case.

The CBI had requested his extradition from Belgium after he was found living in the country in March this year. Choksi was granted residency in Belgium in November 2023. He was arrested based on CBI’s request, which was backed by two non-bailable warrants issued by a Mumbai court on May 23, 2018, and June 15, 2021.

Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, allegedly defrauded the PNB of more than Rs 14,000 crore. Choksi was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) by the government of India due to the massive financial scam.

His legal defence team is now planning to move bail plea in the local court, on medical grounds. His lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, said that the bail plea will be on the ground that Choksi is undergoing treatment for cancer. His team is also likely to challenge his extradition to India, citing “inhuman conditions in Indian prisons”.

Meanwhile, Belgium’s Justice Department told CNN-News18 that the Indian side has introduced an extradition request.

Speaking to CNN-News18, Aggarwal referred to London’s High Court order in India’s extradition appeal against the discharge of Sanjay Bhandari, who was a consultant in the defence sector and is wanted in India on money laundering charges.

“An appeal will be filed. During that appeal process, we will request that he should not be detained and he should be permitted to challenge the extradition by being out of prison,” he said.

“Generally, there are two grounds– this is a political case, and the human rights of the client will be affected. We will make a strong case based on the Bhandari judgment, which has come that said Indian prison conditions are not human,” he added.

In Bhandari’s case, the London court had observed that he would be at risk of “extortion and violence” from other prisoners and prison officials at Tihar Jail.