Mehul Choksi’s wife Priti Choksi has said the fugitive businessman’s family and lawyers were drafting a petition to the Queen of England to have her husband returned from Dominica to Antigua, where he is a citizen.
Priti said she would write to the Queen to ensure her husband gets justice as she is the head of state of Antigua and Barbuda, The Indian Express reported. “I am going to tell her that one of her subjects has been kidnapped and subjected to human rights violations. I will appeal to her to intervene and make sure that my husband is sent home to Antigua.”
Antigua and Barbuda is a constitutional monarchy and part of the British commonwealth, with Queen Elizabeth II officially its reigning monarch and head of state since 1981. Though most of the Queen’s powers in the islands are exercised by the governor-general, the Queen does reserve certain powers only she can wield.
The diamantaire is one of the key accused in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank scam, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, who is also facing extradition in the United Kingdom. Choksi, on the other hand, had gained citizenship in Antigua and had moved there when the fraud case started gathering pace, taking refuge under its laws against deportation.
Choksi is currently fighting a legal battle against his deportation to India in a high court in Dominica, where his legal team and family claim he was taken to against his will and beaten, alleging a conspiracy between Indian and Antiguan authorities.
Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne, however, has suggested Choksi may have taken a boat ride to Dominica with his girlfriend. Priti has countered the claim, saying the “mystery woman” was known to the family and that her husband was being unfairly targeted.
The Antiguan government has reportedly said it prefers to have Choksi deported directly to India from Dominica.