Mehul Choksi moves Supreme Court of Belgium against extradition order

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Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has moved the Supreme Court of Belgium, challenging last month’s order of the Antwerp Court of Appeals that cleared the way for his extradition to India, PTI reported.

 

Ken Witpas, public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Antwerp, told PTI that Choksi filed an appeal in the Court of Cassation, the Supreme Court of Belgium, on October 30. He added that the appeal is strictly limited to legal merits and that the execution of the extradition will remain suspended during the proceedings.

 

The development comes after the Court of Appeals in Antwerp, on October 17, rejected Choksi's argument that he may not receive a fair trial if extradited to India. The court stated that the documentation he submitted was insufficient to make it "concretely plausible" that he personally faces a real, present, and serious risk of being subjected to a flagrant denial of justice, torture, or inhuman and degrading treatment in India.

 

A four-member indictment chamber at the Court of Appeals said it found no infirmity in the orders issued by the pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp District Court on November 29, 2024, allowing Choksi's extradition. 

 

The case

Choksi, who is living in Belgium, is one of the prime accused in the ₹13,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet, he alone is alleged to have siphoned off around ₹6,400 crore.

 

India submitted an extradition request to Belgium on August, 2024, based on arrest warrants issued by a special court in Mumbai. Subsequently, on November 29, 2024, the pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp District Court (Turnhout Division) ruled that the Mumbai court’s arrest warrants against Choksi were enforceable, except for the one related to “causing the disappearance of evidence of the crime".

 

India has also provided multiple assurances to Belgian authorities regarding Choksi’s safety, the charges he would face, as well as provisions for his prison conditions, human rights, and medical care, reported PTI.