A court has blocked diamantaire Mehul Choksi’s repatriation from Dominica to Antigua.
After local lawyers submitted a petition before the High Court of Dominica on behalf of Choksi, Justice Birnie Stephenson on Thursday ruled that the 62-year-old billionaire would not be removed from the Caribbean Sea island nation till further hearing on his plea. The High Court on Friday extended the stay on his removal from the country till June 2, when the next hearing on the Habeas Corpus petition filed by his lawyers would be held.
The court also ordered the local authorities to take Choksi to Dominic-China Friendship Hospital in Roseau for “medical attention” and “for the administration of a Covid-19 test”.
The Government of Dominica earlier decided to repatriate the diamantaire to Antigua and Barbuda, instead of deporting him to India, where he would have to stand trial for colluding with his nephew and jeweller Nirav Modi for defrauding the Punjab National Bank of about Rs 13500 crore.
Choksi was arrested from Canefield Beach in Roseau, the capital of Dominica, on Wednesday. The local police earlier claimed that he had been arrested while disposing of some documents in the sea. He had disappeared from Antigua on Sunday.
A report by Nature Isle News published on the Antigua Newsroom portal quoted Choksi’s lawyer Wayne Marsh alleging that police had infringed on the rights of his client who had been severely beaten.
“He (Choksi) reported to me that he was abducted at Jolly Harbour in Antigua and brought to Dominica by persons whom he believes to be Indian and Antiguan police on a vessel he describes to be about 60-70 feet in length,” Marsh was quoted in the report by Nature Isle News.
Though Choksi is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda since January 2018, Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s government in St John’s is reluctant to take him back and instead wants the authorities in Dominica to deport him to India. Browne, himself, spoke to Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and discussed about deporting the diamantaire to India, according to reports received in New Delhi.
But the Government of Dominica apparently decided to send him to Antigua.
The Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs of the Dominican Government stated in a press release on Wednesday that it was in communication with the authorities of Antigua and Barbuda (A&B) to ascertain some facts, including the status of Choksi’s A&B citizenship.
It added that when the information would be provided by the A&B authorities, “possible arrangements” would be made for “repatriating” him to the neighbouring Caribbean Sea nation.
New Delhi had in August 2018 requested the A&B Government to extradite him to India. He had however filed a lawsuit in the local High Court to challenge and pre-empt any move to strip him of the A&B citizenship and to send him back to India.
Browne asked Skerrit to send Choksi directly to India, as he enjoyed legal and constitutional protection in A&B, but not in Dominica, according to earlier reports in the news portals of the Caribbean Sea island nations.
New Delhi has been in touch with the governments of both A&B and Dominica on Wednesday and Thursday through its diplomatic missions in the region. India’s High Commissions in Port of Spain and Georgetown – the capitals of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana – manage its relations with Dominica and A&B respectively.
India’s High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Arun Kumar Sahu, who is concurrently accredited to Dominica, is likely to travel to Roseau next week.
Dominica is often used by illegal immigrants as a stopover on their way to Cuba or the United States. The local police had detained 19 citizens of India last month when they had arrived in the island nation without valid travel documents in order to sneak into the US.
Choksi’s aide Govin told the investigators of A&B that the diamantaire had plans to travel to Cuba, according to a report on West Indies and Caribbean News Online.
Choksi is wanted in India, as he had allegedly colluded with Modi to defraud the Punjab National Bank of about Rs 13500 crore. The duo had left India in January 2018. The Ministry of External Affairs had in February 2018 revoked the passports issued to both of them, thus stripping them of the citizenship of India.
New Delhi had in August 2018 sent to the A&B Government two separate requests seeking the extradition of Choksi. The owner of Gitanjali Gems, however, had by then already moved the A&B High Court to bar the government of the island nation from detaining him for extradition at the request of India. Browne’s government in St John’s had conveyed to New Delhi that he would be extradited to India as soon as he would exhaust all his legal options.
Choksi had been reported missing at Johnson Point Police Station in Antigua on Sunday. He had gone missing after leaving his home at the Jolly Harbour township on the west coast of Antigua. He had been last seen at 5:15 p.m. (local time in Antigua and Barbuda) that day. His car had later been found abandoned by the police.
Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice against him long back. The A&B authorities also got Interpol to issue a Yellow Notice on him after he was reported missing.
The Browne’s Government conveyed to New Delhi that it was in favour of stripping Choksi of the A&B citizenship and might do so once he would exhaust all his legal options to stall the move.
Choksi’s nephew Modi had been arrested in London in March 2019. His extradition to India was cleared by British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, last month after the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London had ruled in favour of it. Modi, however, still has options to challenge it in the High Court and the Supreme Court of the UK.