Choksi surrenders Indian citizenship, hands over passport to Antiguan govt
New Delhi: Fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi has given up his Indian citizenship and surrendered his passport to Antigua.
This move of Choksi can be seen as an attempt to avoid extradition to India, where he is wanted by multiple agencies for loan fraud.
Mehul Choksi, 59, also submitted 177 dollars with his passport (Z-3396732 ) to the Indian High Commission in Antigua.
The foreign ministry had said that Mehul Choksi could not have dual citizenship.
India and Antigua do not have a bilateral extradition pact but the government has been trying to bring back the diamond billionaire from Antigua under a law of the island nation that allows it to send back a fugitive to a designated Commonwealth country.
Choksi has told a court in Mumbai that he cannot travel to India as he cannot suffer a 41-hour journey from Antigua because of his poor health.
In a written statement, he also said that the Enforcement Directorate had misled the court by not revealing his condition and the fact that he had been in touch with banks and wanted to settle his dues.
In 2017, Choksi was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda and he took the oath of allegiance to that country on January 15, 2018.
A few days later, on January 29, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case and started investigating Choki and Nirav Modi.
Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi are wanted in India and are accused of Rs 13,000 crore fraud involving fake guarantees in the name of Punjab National Bank.
