Mehul Choksi remains in Police custody in Dominica as Court adjourns hearing

After Dominica adjourned Mehul Choksi's extradition hearing, India's special charter plane which had arrived to the Caribbean nation with the Indian authorities, flew out on Thursday night. Bombardier Global 5000 business jet of Qatar Executive Airlines had arrived at the Douglas Charles Airport in Dominica with Indian officials from the CBI and ED on May 28, laden with documents evidencing the fugitive status of Mehul Choksi.

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The Dominica High Court of Justice which was hearing the Mehul Choksi case has adjourned the case hearing on Thursday. Mehul Choksi will continue to remain in Police custody in Dominica for 30 days. According to sources, the next hearing in the case is likely to be scheduled only in July.

Protestors gather in large numbers outside the Dominica High Court of Justice, demanding Mehul Choksi be sent back to Antigua instead of India, as the virtual hearing is underway in the court.

"Since Mehul Choksi arrived in Dominica from Antigua, he should be sent back there and let the Antiguan Law take a decision on whether he should be sent back to India," one of the protestors said while speaking with Republic TV.

Speaking with Republic Media Network, Dominican Opposition Leader Lennox Linton said, " My appeal is for an investigation of the involvement of the Government of Dominica in an international scandal in which it appears that an Indian born, criminally accused human being was abducted in Antigua, tortured, ferried to Dominica against his will and handed over by his abductors to law enforcement authorities who are now prosecuting him for illegal entry into Dominica."

Lennox Linton is alleged to have been colluding with Mehul Choksi's family. Dominican sources reported that the country's Opposition Leader Lennox Linton was spotted with fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi's brother Chetan on Wednesday, during Choksi's bail hearing at Dominica High Court.

However, he has refused the media report which claimed that he had been bribed by Mehul Choksi's brother.

A protest has begun outside Dominica court where the hearing on Mehul Choksi case is to begin shortly. Protestors demand Mehul Choksi be sent back to Antigua and not to India. 

While speaking with Republic Media Network, Dominican Opposition Leader Lennox Linton said, "I am not involved in any protest action. I do not know of any protests around the people of Dominica asking for Choksi to be deported back to Antigua and not India". 

"My appeal is for an investigation of the involvement of the Government of Dominica in an international scandal in which it appears that an Indian born, criminally accused human being was abducted in Antigua, tortured, ferried to Dominica against his will and handed over by his abductors to law enforcement authorities who are now prosecuting him for illegal entry into Dominica," he said further.

"The Antigua Cabinet is entitled to its opinion on whether Choksi should be sent back to India or Antigua. That is none of my business. The matter is before the court. I have no comment," he added.

Hearing on the Mehul Choksi extradition has begun. The marathon hearing of yesterday was adjourned, with Dominican Governments wanting Choksi deported to India

Mehul Choksi is under the scanner of both the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate. Along with his nephew Nirav Modi, he has been accused of allegedly siphoning off Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the Punjab National Bank (PNB), using letters of undertaking. Owner of the Gitanjali group, a retail jewellery company, Choksi secured the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in November 2017 under the aegis of the Citizenship by Investment Programme and fled to the island nation in the first week of January 2018.

India formally sought Choksi's extradition in August 2018 underlining the principle of reciprocity, the principle of dual criminality, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption to which both countries are signatories. In 2019, Antigua and Barbuda PM Gaston Browne was quoted as saying that the citizenship of Mehul Choksi will be revoked and will be extradited to India once all his legal options are exhausted. An eight-member team of the CBI, the ED and the Ministry of External Affairs reached Dominica ahead of the court hearing to pursue the case for Choksi's deportation. 

Mehul Choksi appeared before the court virtually as he had been admitted to the Dominica China Friendship hospital where he is under recuperation following the injuries he suffered after going missing from Antigua. Owing to the sensitivity of the case, security was beefed up outside the court premises while the attendants of the hearing were asked to switch off their cell phones. The court was hearing Mehul Choksi's plea against the deportation, and at the end of a marathon hearing, adjourned the matter till Thursday.

While the hearing was underway on Wednesday, the Government of Dominica submitted before the court to strike down the case of Mehul Choksi and initiate his deportation to India. Dominican Government stated that the affidavit filed by Choksi is irregular, while Choksi's lead counsel countered the Dominican government's argument.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Mehul Choksi contended that he needs to be released as he doesn't feel safe in Police custody. He even said he is ready to pay for his own security. Stating that he was, in fact, the victim, he maintained he had been kidnapped.

"I need to be released. I don't feel safe in Police custody. I am ready to pay for my own security," Mehul Choksi said while appearing virtually, according to the three journalists reporting on the case for Republic LIVE from Dominica.