Antigua PM says ‘no jurisdiction’ over Mehul Choksi, seeks 'direct' deportation to India

Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Wednesday backed Mehul Choksi's direct deportation to India urging for his alleged 'abduction' to be treated separately from his extradition. In a statement to Republic TV's Executive Editor Niranjan  Narayanaswamy, PM Gaston Browne highlighted the fugitive diamond merchant's attempts to conspire against his government along with the Opposition party revealing that Mehul Choksi had changed his lawyer to a well-known member of the UPP given the protection that the Opposition party had offered in exchange for his campaign funding.

"It’s a red herring. Choksi’s changed his lawyer to a well-known member of the UPP; former attorney general under the UPP, Justin Simon. We have it on reliable authority that the UPP had promised Choksi protection, for campaign funding. That is why they are so vehement, that he should not be deported from Dominica to India, but back to Antigua where he could continue to hide behind the constitutional protections of citizenship," Antigua PM Gaston Browne stated. 

'Abduction & deportation should be treated separately'

The Antigua PM stressed that Mehul Choksi's deportation came with no violation of his constitutional rights given that he was an 'illegal alien' in Dominica outside the Antiguan territory. Moreover, he also dismissed Choksi's claims of being lured and abducted by sub-contractors of an agency saying that it should not be allowed to hamper his deportation to India.

"The claim that my request for the government of Dominica to deport him directly to India is in violation of Choksi’s constitutional rights, is preposterous. Choksi enjoys no such right in Dominica as an illegal alien and since he is not within the jurisdiction of Antigua & Barbuda, we have no jurisdiction over him and therefore could not violate his constitutional rights by asking for his direct deportation to India to face charges against him," he said.

"The abduction can be investigated separately and concurrently, while the deportation to India occurs. His deportation cannot be seen to be negated by his alleged abduction. That will be a travesty for international cooperation to apprehend criminals," he added.

Browne revealed that instead of subjecting himself to an inquiry, Choksi had attempted to use Courts to stay the revocation of his citizenship. He also cited the order that he had written in 2019 to deprive Choksi of his citizenship which accused him of 'will concealment of facts' and 'false representation' to obtain the citizenship in the first place. Here is the 2019 order: