Mehul Choksi’s team has argued that the new Citizenship rules cannot supersede the Constitution of India.
Mehul Choksi was caught in Dominica while trying to move to Cuba to escape extradition to India
New Delhi:
The Dominican government has argued in court that Mehul Choksi — the fugitive diamond trader wanted over the Rs 14,000 crore loan fraud at the Punjab National Bank – be deported to India.
India is pressing for his early deportation, arguing that he continues to be an Indian citizen, a government official has told NDTV.
Mehul Choksi – who was caught in Dominica while trying to move to Cuba to escape extradition to India — is attending the trial via video-conference. He is currently at a hospital, being treated for his injuries his lawyers say he sustained during the alleged kidnapping from Antigua.
His team – Queen’s Counsels Justin Simon and John Carrington – is arguing that he had been abducted and brought to Dominica. If the court accepts the argument, he will be sent back to Antigua, where he had got a citizenship and escaped before he could be brought to book in India.
An eight-member multi-agency team, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate — is in Dominica for the extradition of the 62-year-old. The government has also sent its High Commissioner from Trinidad & Tobago to assist the officials.
“As far as Choksi’s acquiring Antiguan citizenship is concerned, India is of the view that he has done on basis of false declarations and we have been opposing it,” an official of the Union Home Ministry has told NDTV.
Mehul Choksi’s team has argued that the new Citizenship rules cannot supersede the Constitution of India.
“Article 9 of the Constitution states that any Indian applying for foreign citizenship on any grounds will lose Indian citizenship by default. So India’s plea will not hold any merit,” a lawyer representing him has said.