Big Win For India: ‘Nothing Stops Us…,’ Antwerp Attorney General Confirms Mehul Choksi's Extradition, Says No Legal Obstacle

In a major diplomatic breakthrough for India, the Antwerp Court of Appeal in Belgium has cleared the extradition of fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi to India. The ruling, delivered on October 17, granted execution of two Indian arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai Special Judge (CBI) in May 2018 and June 2021, in connection with the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.

Confirming the development exclusively to Republic Media Network, Antwerp Attorney General Ken Witpas stated in his official written response - 

“Nothing stops us from extraditing Mehul Choksi to India."

‘Court Undertook 6-Step Assessment'

In a detailed written response to Republic Media Network, Attorney General Ken Witpas outlined the six-step legal assessment conducted by the Antwerp Court of Appeal, which found no legal obstacles to Choksi’s extradition.

“The Court of Appeal came to her conclusions deliberating a six-step assessment in which it was established that that there is an applicable legal base between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of India for the request of extradition,” Witpas confirmed.

The letter from Antwerp also noted that the ‘criminal facts of which Mehul Choksi is being accused of by the Indian authority, are also punishable by Belgian law (principle of reciprocity) with a prison sentence whose maximum duration exceeds one year’. “The facts of which Choksi is criminally being accused of by the Indian authority, may lead to his extradition,” Witpas wrote.

One Charge Rejected, Appeal Window Open

While approving the extradition on most counts, the Antwerp Court did not approve one portion of the June 15, 2021 arrest warrant based on ‘tampering or destruction of evidence’ citing that such a provision does not exist under Belgian law and thus fails the principle of reciprocity.

Mehul Choksi now has 15 days to appeal this ruling before the Belgian Court of Cassation, but as of now, authorities have ‘no knowledge that Choksi has yet filed such an appeal’, the Attorney General noted.