NEW DELHI: Fugitive diamantaire and PNB scam accused
Mehul Choksi's extradition to India might be caught up in legal tangles. A Caribbean court has put a stay on his repatriation from Dominica.
"This order is to be served immediately on the Defendants by email and fax and in person, and the Head of Immigration at the Douglas Charles Airport by email and fax," read the order from High Court of Justice Commonwealth of Dominica.
The matter will come up for hearing again on Friday.
The order came on a petition filed by the lawyers of Choksi, who was detained in Dominica for "illegal entry".
"The legal team has filed a habeas corpus petition in Dominica for Mehul Choksi and have also highlighted deprivation of access to Mehul Choksi and deprivation of constitutional rights to legal assistance," Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said.
Another lawyer for Choksi has alleged that his client was tortured in custody.
Choksi went missing in Antigua last week, amid speculations that he could have fled to Cuba.
Following this, the Antigua government sent out notices to different counties seeking his whereabouts. There was also a request made to the Interpol to issue a Yellow Notice.
Sources said that Choksi may have been apprehended on Tuesday night in Dominica following the Interpol alert.
Following his capture, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne had said that he will be extradited to India. But the court order now puts a question mark on the process.
Choksi, 63, is involved in the Rs 12,000 crore PNB scam and is wanted in India for charges of fraud.
India is also pressing for the extradition of Nirav Modi, another accused in the same case, who is currently lodged in a UK jail.
(With agency inputs)