The Dominican court has put a hold on the deportation of Mehul Choksi after the fugitive’s legal team filed a habeas corpus petition in the Dominica court. The petition filed by Choksi’s legal team said that he was denied the legal rights he is entitled to and was not let to meet his lawyers after he was arrested. The matter of the situation will be heard next on May 28. As of now, the fugitive jeweler is in the custody of Dominican Police.

What is the habeas corpus petition?

The Habeas Corpus petition is a writ (written legal order) that states that an alleged criminal who is in prison must be given the opportunity to appear before a court before he/she can be forced to stay in prison. In this situation, Choksi’s lawyer said that Choksi not given the legal representation he deserves is a “travesty of justice” and that he is entitled to a legal representation in any country he is – Antigua or Dominica.

What happened after Choksi was detained in Dominica?

After Choksi’s arrest in Dominica, the Prime Minister of the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne had claimed asking Dominican authorities to extradite Choksi back to India directly. In his statement, Prime Minister Browne said that Choksi “made a monumental error by skipping the island.”

However, as there has not been any extradition arrangement between the Indian and the Dominican side, the extradition is now in purgatory. Prime Minister Browne was quoted by ANI saying-

“Ultimately, it is the sovereign decision of the government of Dominica as to which country they repatriate Mehul Choksi unless the Court states otherwise.”


Also read: Mehul Choksi’s theatric arrest after fleeing to Dominica by boat; Captured while disposing documents


What is Choksi’s lawyer saying?

While a tug-of-war is played between the deportation of Choksi, his lawyer Wayne Marsh claimed that Choksi was assaulted after he was ‘abducted’. Speaking to news agency ANI, Marsh said-

“I noticed that he was severely beaten, his eyes were swollen and he had several burnt marks on his body. He reported to me that he was abducted at Jolly Harbour in Antigua and brought to Dominica by persons whom he believed to be Indian and Antiguan police on a vessel he described to be about 60-70 feet in length.”

What do we know about Mehul Choksi so far?

From starting his career as a lowly trader of rough diamonds, Choksi over the course of years became one of the top exporters of diamonds in India. Later, Choksi founded Gitanjali Gems and worked hard to make it one of the biggest jewelry chains in the world, by hook or crook. Choksi also launched a few other jewelry related brands that became a hit among the classes and the masses during 90s.

A turning point came in Choksi’s life when his nephew Nirav Modi, who was also in the same business, came from Antwerp to India to work with Choksi.

What was Mehul Choksi most-wanted for?

According to India Today, the now-fugitive diamond tycoon was involved in funneling of funds from one company account to another account and started selling poor quality diamonds. In 2016 his venture Gitanjali faced a huge loss and Choksi along with Modi formulated a plan which would siphon money from Punjab National Bank (PNB). Choksi and his nephew bribed a PNB employee and had him forge a LoU (letter of undertaking) through which they were able to siphon an amount of Rs. 13,500 crore from PNB.

In 2017, the year that Modi and Choksi siphoned money off of PNB, Choksi got a clearance report from the Mumbai Police which stated that there were no pending cases against him. The next year, Choksi used that clearance report when he fled to India for USA just a few days before CBI filed a report against Choksi and Modi.

When the Mumbai court issued a non-bailable warrant against Choksi, the Indian authorities approached its US counterpart for his deportation and found out that the alleged scammer had already left the US in 2018 and had taken a citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda.