Extradition of Mehul Choksi likely before Lok Sabha polls
The (Antiguan) Extradition Act of 1993 provides the legal basis for extraditing offenders from each other's jurisdiction , government sources said.
New Delhi: Decks are being cleared for an early extradition of Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam-accused Mehul Choksi to India from tiny Caribbean nation Antigua, said government sources, fuelling speculation that the NDA government may want to showcase his return to India to face the law as its major achievement ahead of the general elections.
The Indian government’s position in the matter has been that there is already an existing facility between India and Antigua, where Mr Choksi has taken citizenship, that “constitutes an extradition arrangement between India and (A&B) Antigua and Barbuda.
The (Antiguan) Extradition Act of 1993 “provides the legal basis for extraditing offenders from each other’s jurisdiction”, government sources said.
New Delhi is pursuing Mr Choksi’s return with the Government of Antigua through diplomatic and legal channels and has handed over a request for his extradition.
When asked whether Mr Choksi is going to be extradited soon, officials said on Saturday that they are not aware of any fresh developments. However, tight-lipped sources in the security establishment told this newspaper that any such move would be confidential.
If indeed Mr Choksi is extradited soon, this will be the second major success for the NDA government in the past few weeks.
In December, alleged British middleman Christian James Michel was extradited to India from the UAE in the Rs 3,546 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.
In September last year, Antigua had assured India of full cooperation in extradition matter of Mr Choksi. Foreign minister of Antigua & Barbuda Chet Greene had personally conveyed his country’s assurance to external affairs minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj during their bilateral meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
On August 3 last year, New Delhi had 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 has enabled New Delhi to seek extradition of Mr Choksi from Antigua under this already-existing arrangement.
Government sources had earlier said last year, “The gazette notification on August 3, 2018, directs that the provisions of the Extradition Act, 1962, shall apply with respect to Antigua and Barbuda with effect from 2001.
These notifications constitute an extradition arrangement between India and Antigua and Barbuda under their Extradition Act, 1993, and provides the legal basis for extraditing offenders from each other’s jurisdiction, said an official source.
The tiny Caribbean nation had earlier claimed last year that it was told by Indian agencies that there was no adverse information against Mr 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 back then, saying that the police clearance certificate (PCC) was issued to Mr 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 earlier was that there was nothing incriminating or adverse against Mr Choksi at that particular time as the scam surfaced later.