According to local media, Mehul Choksi, the fugitive jeweller wanted in India in connection with the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, has been denied bail by the Dominica high court.
Following the conclusion of both sides’ arguments, Dominica high court Judge Wynante Adrien-Roberts denied Mehul Choksi bail. According to Antigua Newsroom, the court also stated that Mehul Choksi did not provide any strong surety while seeking bail and that he is a flight risk. Choksi’s attorneys argued for bail based on medical reasons rather than a flight risk.
Adrien-Roberts stated that Mehul Choksi has no ties to Dominica and that the government cannot impose any conditions to ensure that he does not flee. Choksi also proposed staying with his brother in a hotel, which is not a fixed address, according to the high court. His trial has yet to begin, according to the court.
India’s affidavits
According to people familiar with the situation, the Indian government filed two affidavits in the Dominica high court establishing Mehul Choksi’s Indian citizenship and the seriousness of the PNB fraud.
The affidavits were filed on Thursday, a day before Mehul Choksi’s bail plea was to be heard in the high court, by Sharda Raut, the CBI deputy inspector general in charge of the PNB fraud investigation, and Azad Singh, the consular officer at the Indian high commission in the Commonwealth of Dominica.
According to the people cited in the first instance, detailed evidence has been provided in the affidavits against Mehul Choksi pertaining to criminal conspiracy, cheating, and money laundering, as well as the reasons why he needs to face investigations in India.
Choksi’s surrender of Indian citizenship was never approved by the authorities, according to the affidavits, and he was an Indian citizen at the time of the crime.
Choksi claims that on May 23, he was kidnapped from Antigua by Indian and Antiguan police officers, along with his woman friend, Barbara Jarabik, who, according to his version of events, was a part of the plot. He claimed he was then taken to Dominica in a ship, which Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne denied.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) has adjourned his habeas corpus petition sine die. The plea alleges torture and requests that he be repatriated to Antigua, where he is a citizen.
