Antigua & Barbuda's opposition & govt squabble over Mehul Choksi; 'funding' charge denied

The squabble between Antigua and Barbuda's opposition and government over Mehul Choksi intensified as the United Progressive Party (UPP) hit back at PM Gaston Browne. When the latter asked Dominica to directly deport the fugitive diamantaire to India, the UPP stressed that he is entitled to due process being a citizen of the island nation. Thereafter, Browne not only reiterated his government's intent to revoke Choksi's citizenship but also claimed that the PNB scam accused had funded the aforesaid opposition party. 

Alleging that the PM is restoring to "blatant lies", the UPP denied that its 2018 election campaign was funded by Choksi. Noting that it is aware of the fugitive's wealth being the subject of criminal accusations in India, it also rejected claims that it has ever received any gifts from either him or his family. Moreover, it clarified that its leader Harold Lovell and Parliamentary leader Jamala Pringle has neither had any interaction with him or his kin nor promised to represent their interests in the Parliament.

In another jibe at the government, the UPP pointed out that Choksi was accorded the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda under the Gaston Browne administration. Earlier, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has temporarily stayed the repatriation of the diamond merchant, allowed him to meet his legal counsel and adjourned the matter to 9 am on June 2. While he has tested negative for COVID-19, he has been admitted to the Dominica China Friendship Hospital. 

India pushes for Mehul Choksi's extradition

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. The current legal status of the fugitive diamantaire again came under question after he went  "missing" in the island nation on May 23 from the island nation.

While the Dominican government officially confirmed that he was detained in the country after an Interpol Yellow Notice was issued, Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal claimed that his client had "torture marks" on his body and was abducted by various persons from Antigua who brought him to Dominica. In another development, Republic TV accessed a picture of a pale-faced and red-eyed Choksi staring at the camera through the prison grill. On Sunday, Browne asserted that India had sent a private jet to Dominica carrying documents related to the deportation of Mehul Choksi, a claim yet to be confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs.