Brussels:
A Belgian court has rejected the bail plea of Mehul Choksi, the prime accused in the loan fraud case of Punjab National Bank (PNB) worth Rs 13,500 crore.
A bench of three judges who conducted the hearing in the Dutch, after reviewing the arguments, ruled against the bail.
Choksi was arrested in Belgium last week following a request from Indian officials.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said during the weekly media briefing that India was working with Belgian side to extradite Choksi.
“As you know, based on our extradition request, he was arrested in Belgium. We are working closely with Belgium’s side for his extradition in India to face tests in the country,” Jaiswal said while responding to a query. ,
Earlier today, Choksi’s Indian lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, was seen before the bail hearing in Antwerp and also visited Choksi in jail.
After his arrest, Aggarwal said that the legal team plans to appeal to the verdict, emphasizing “Choksi’s sick health and ongoing cancer treatment”, as there is a primary basis for demanding their release. “My customer, Mehul Choksi, is currently in custody. We will begin the process of filing an appeal and request his release from prison, citing his medical condition and the fact that he is not a flight risk,” Aggarwal told ANI.
During a press conference held in Delhi, Aggarwal underlined the defense strategy to fight Choksi’s extradition on two major grounds: concern over the political nature of the case and the treatment of Choksi’s health status in India. He argued that extradition could severely affect the human rights of Choksi, “especially due to lack of adequate medical care and the risk of harassment by political institutions”.
Aggarwal claimed that Choksi has been a partner with Indian investigative agencies and has expressed his desire to participate in the investigation through video conferencing due to his health issues.
The legal team also pointed out procedural pre-prejudices for extradition, including issuing non-bailable warrants since 2018. Aggarwal said that previous attempts to extradite Choksi from Dominica had failed, and Choksi was receiving medical treatment in Antigua before traveling to Belgium to take care of cancer.
(This story is not edited by NDTV employees and auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
