Request on Mehul Choksi being considered by Antigua: MEA

New Delhi: Antigua is examining India’s request for extradition of Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam-accused Mehul Choksi, the MEA said on Thursday, adding that an “extradition arrangement” already exists between the two countries as per the extradition acts of the two countries.

India has recently handed over a request to Antigua for extradition of Choksi, who had earlier obtained citizenship of the Caribbean nation.

India is trying to bring back Choksi from Antigua under the provision of a law of the island nation which provides for extradition of a fugitive to a designated Commonwealth country.

As per the provisions of the Extradition Act, 1993 of Antigua and Barbuda, a fugitive may be extradited to a designated Commonwealth Country or a state with which there are general or special arrangement or a bilateral treaty.

Last week on August 3, New Delhi quietly issued a gazette notification that the provisions of the Extradition Act, 1962, “shall apply with respect to Antigua and Barbuda with effect from 2001 i.e. when Antigua and Barbuda notified India as Designated Commonwealth Country under the provision of its own Extradition Act”. This could enable New Delhi to seek extradition of Choksi from Antigua under this already-existing arrangement.

Significantly, the Antiguan government way back in 2001 had then notified India as a “designated Commonwealth country”.

Government sources had earlier said, “The gazette notification on 3 August 2018 directs that the provisions of Extradition Act, 1962 shall apply with respect to Antigua and Barbuda with effect from 2001 i.e. when  Antigua and Barbuda notified India as Designated Commonwealth Country under the provision of its own Extradition Act. These notifications constitute an extradition arrangement between India and Antigua and Barbuda under their Extradition Act of 1993 and provides the legal basis for extraditing offenders from each other’s jurisdiction.”

The tiny Caribbean nation had last week claimed it was told by Indian agencies that there was no adverse information against Choksi when it did a background check on the fugitive billionaire before granting him citizenship in 2017, according to a local media report there.

But India had swiftly set the record straight last Friday evening, saying that the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) was issued to Choksi by Passport Office, Mumbai, for Antigua and Barbuda on March 16, 2017 since at that time there was a “clear Police Verification Report (PVR) available on his passport”. What New Delhi had essentially said last week was that there was nothing incriminating or adverse against Choksi at that particular time since the scam surfaced later.