On Thursday Dominican courts refused Mehul Choksi bail after he pleaded not guilty to illegal entry charges; he claimed he’d been kidnapped and brought to that country
New Delhi:
The multi-agency team tasked with bringing back Mehul Choksi from Dominica is headed home – without the fugitive jeweller – after the Caribbean nation’s High Court adjourned his habeas corpus petition to July and extended its order on removing him from that country.
The eight-member team – which includes Enforcement Directorate officials and the head of the CBI’s Bank Securities and Frauds (Mumbai) division – is flying home on a Qatar Airways private jet that took off from Dominica’s Melville Hall Airport Thursday night, according to news agency PTI.
The team was hoping to bring Choksi back to India if the Dominican court cleared his deportation.
The plane is scheduled to land at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport at 11 pm.
The Dominican High Court on Thursday adjourned its hearing into the Choksi’s petition.
PTI quoted the Antigua News Room as saying it was to allow lawyers “to agree on language to be used with respect to injunction filed to prevent his (Choksi’s) removal from Dominica”.
The court also refused Choksi bail after he was charged with illegally entering that country.
His lawyers had argued that other non-nationals had received bail for similar matters, but the Dominican government tagged Choksi as a flight risk and pointed to Interpol notices against him.
Mehul Choksi, 62, was caught allegedly trying to escape from Antigua to Cuba via Dominica.
He went missing from his residence in Antigua on May 23, prompting a manhunt by local police
He’d fled to Antigua in 2018, after purchasing a citizenship from that country, as CBI and Enforcement Directorate investigations into the loan fraud case were picking up pace.
After his arrest in Dominica, Antigua has said he should be handed over to India directly.
India will continue to ensure that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is brought back to the country, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.
“India remains steadfast in its efforts that fugitives are brought back to India. He is currently in the custody of Dominica with some legal proceedings underway. We will continue to ensure he is brought back to India,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a briefing.