Mumbai:
Even a prominent accused in the Punjab National Bank Loan fraud case, Run Dimmeter Mehul Choksi, has been arrested in Belgium, a petition to declare him a fugitive economic offender has been pending before a court in Mumbai for almost seven years.
65 -year -old Choksi, and his nephew Dimmeter Nirav Modi is the main accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank loan fraud case. Official sources said on Monday that Choksi was arrested in Belgium after an extradition request by Indian investigative agencies.
The Enforcement Directorate filed an application in July 2018, demanding Choksi to be declared an FEO and confiscation of its property under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Criminals Act.
However, in the case, a barrage of applications filed by the accused in the PMLA court has been repeatedly delayed in the case and the Bombay High Court has alleged procedural laps in the petition of the Enforcement Directorate.
An ED official said, “The court has been kept busy with trivial applications, and our application has been heard to declare (Choksi), an FEO has been postponed for the last seven years.”
The official said, “The court should have continued the hearing and after the application, the future curriculum was decided.”
He had urged the court not to file and entertain similar applications repeatedly and entertain them.
Choksi’s lawyer informed the court that the accused was treating suspected cancer in Belgium and intended to file an application regarding his health.
Under the FEO Act, a person can be declared a fugitive economic offender if a warrant has been issued against him for a crime related to Rs 100 crore or more and has left India refusing to return. Once declared FEO, the person’s property can be confiscated by the investigating agency.
Choksi challenged the ED application in the Bombay High Court, alleging that the agency “did not follow the appropriate process before filing the application and therefore, it stands up”.
However, in September 2023, the High Court dismissed its petition, deciding that the ED had followed the prescribed format under the FEO Act. It also stopped at the proceedings of the special court.
Despite this, the hearing could not begin on the announcement of Choksi FeO, Choksi continued to continue the application before the special court through his lawyers.
While most of these arguments have been rejected, some are pending. His latest attempt to stop the proceedings through a petition to recall the notice issued on the FEO application of ED was rejected in December 2023.
According to ED officials, Choksi left India under suspicious circumstances in early January 2018.
Choksi’s lawyer has argued that the ED changed his stance on a physical basis to declare him an FEO and the suspension of his Indian passport made him impossible to return for investigation.
However, the court rejected the argument, stating that the notice was issued based on accurate information and not based on “wrong facts or misconceptions”.
Ed claimed that the accused left the country under suspicious circumstances in the first week of January 2018.
Nirav Modi has already been declared FEO by a special court. He has been in jail in London since 2019.
Choksi has been arrested in Belgium after extradition request by Indian investigative agencies.
Action against the second “major suspect” in the case, after Nirav Modi, was taken on Saturday based on a extradition request transferred by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), said official sources.
Choksi was located in Belgium last year when he went there on the basis of receiving medical treatment. He was living in Antigua since 2018 after leaving India.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
