Dominica court grants interim bail to Mehul Choksi on medical grounds

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, arrested for illegal entry in Dominica, got bail on medical grounds to travel to Antigua and Barbuda, news agency ANI reported on Monday.

The bail granted by the Dominica court is strictly for medical treatment in Antigua. Interim bail has been approved till he is certified fit to travel, and after that he has to return to Dominica.

His earlier bail application was rejected.

A magistrate court in Dominica had sent Choksi to a state prison but continued to remain in hospital as his medical condition "deteriorated".

The 62-year-old fugitive is wanted in India in connection with a Rs 13,500-crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank. Choksi has got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court. 

Choksi, who had gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda, had sparked a massive manhunt. He was later captured in Dominica and is facing charges of entering the country illegally.

Choksi had filed a case in the high court of Dominica, seeking to quash the proceedings against him alleging that his arrest was "dictated" by representatives of the Indian government.

The case was filed against the Immigration Minister of the Caribbean nation, its police chief and the investigating officer of the case.

Choksi pleaded that the decision to charge him for illegal entry violated the law and, accordingly, was null and void.

He has been kept at the Dominica China Friendship Hospital while awaiting an outcome in his illegal entry case.

Choksi's lawyer has alleged that their client was kidnapped and forcibly taken to Dominica.

He is wanted in India by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.