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The case of fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi challenging his extradition will come up for hearing before Belgium's supreme court -- the Court of Cassation -- on December 9, officials said on Thursday. Choksi has challenged before Belgium's top court an October 17 ruling of the Antwerp Court of Appeal that upheld India's request for his extradition while terming it "enforceable". In response to queries by the PTI, Advocaat-generaal Henri Vanderlinden said the Court of Cassation will hear the case on December 9. The Court of Cassation only checks the decision of the court of appeal "on legal aspects" such as whether the court of appeal correctly applied the legal dispositions, and whether they follow the right procedure, he told PTI. "So, new facts or evidence cannot be placed," he said. "The proceedings are, in essence, a written one. As a rule, all cases are heard. If the court refuses to admit the appeal, it will be on legal grounds, for example, the person who filed the ...
A court in Antwerp on Friday cleared the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, noting that his arrest by the Belgian authorities on India's request was valid, officials in the know of the development said. The order has come as a strong validation for India's case seeking his extradition, with Choksi having the option of appealing against the decision in a superior court in Belgium, they said. "The order has come in our favour. The court has termed his arrest by the Belgian authorities on India's request valid. The first legal step in getting him extradited is now clear," a senior official said. Belgian prosecutors were aided by Indian officials from the external affairs ministry and the CBI in putting forth strong arguments on Choksi's alleged crime in orchestrating a Rs 13,000 crore scam in the Punjab National Bank in collusion with his nephew Nirav Modi. The prosecutors told the court that he remains a flight risk and cannot be released from prison, the officials sai
A special court here has pointed out several critical fundamental lapses in the arrest of an ED official by the Central Bureau of Investigation over alleged bribery after ordering his immediate release. Rejecting the CBI's plea for transit remand of Vishal Deep, assistant director of Enforcement Directorate's Shimla unit, special judge B Y Phad has said that the allegations against him are not well founded. The CBI's Chandigarh unit arrested Deep from Mumbai on Tuesday on corruption charges stemming from the ED's probe against Himalayan group of professional institutions. The CBI claimed Deep demanded Rs 1.1 crore bribe from Himalayan group of professional institutions chairman Rajnish Bansal for not arresting him in a money laundering case being probed by the ED. The court gave the relief to Deep on Wednesday and a detailed copy of the order was made available subsequently. In his order, the special judge noted that the prosecution's failure to produce the case diary shakes its .