Mehul Choksi challenges Belgian court’s nod for his extradition to India

Fugitive Indian jeweller Mehul Choksi has moved the apex court of Belgium, challenging a ruling by the Antwerp Court of Appeal that upheld India’s request for his extradition in connection with the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, officials confirmed on Monday.

According to Belgian prosecutors, Choksi lodged an appeal before the Court of Cassation — Belgium’s highest judicial authority — on 30 October, seeking to overturn the 17 October order of the appellate court, which had declared India’s extradition request “enforceable”.

“This appeal is strictly limited to legal merits and will be judged by the Court of Cassation. During this procedure, the execution of the extradition is suspended,” Ken Witpas, public prosecutor at the Antwerp Court of Appeal, told PTI in a written response.

The appeal effectively halts Choksi’s transfer to India until the Supreme Court completes its legal review. The Court of Cassation examines whether the appellate court correctly interpreted and applied the law, rather than re-examining the factual basis of the case.

On 17 October, a four-member indictment chamber of the Antwerp Court of Appeal had upheld an earlier order by the pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp District Court’s Turnhout Division, dated 29 November 2024, finding that India’s arrest warrants — issued by a Mumbai special court in May 2018 and June 2021 — were valid and enforceable.

The appellate judges concluded that Choksi, who is wanted in India for one of the country’s largest banking frauds, faced “no risk” of being denied a fair trial or subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment if extradited.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have accused Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi of orchestrating a massive fraud against PNB, allegedly using fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) to siphon off public money.

According to the CBI chargesheet, Choksi alone defrauded the bank of around Rs 6,400 crore, while the total scam amount has been pegged at Rs 13,000 crore. The fugitive businessman fled India in January 2018, just days before the scam was publicly exposed, and subsequently obtained citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda.

Though Choksi had been living in the Caribbean nation, he was reportedly spotted in Belgium earlier this year, allegedly to seek medical treatment, which prompted India to move swiftly with an extradition request.

India formally submitted its extradition request to Belgium on 27 August 2024, accompanied by detailed documentation from the Mumbai court’s arrest warrants and supporting evidence. The Belgian public prosecutor in Turnhout subsequently initiated proceedings on November 25, 2024, seeking judicial enforcement of those warrants.

Two days later, the Antwerp District Court’s Turnhout Division ruled that the warrants were enforceable, except for one count relating to the “causing of disappearance of evidence of the crime”, which it excluded from the extradition scope.

India has also provided multiple assurances to Belgian authorities regarding the conditions of Choksi’s return and detention. These include guarantees about:

• The specific charges he will face in India;

• Human rights protections, in line with international obligations;

• Medical facilities to meet his reported health conditions; and

• The security of prison arrangements during and after trial.

Such diplomatic undertakings are standard in extradition proceedings under European law, particularly when the requesting state lies outside the EU and is subject to human rights scrutiny under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Legal experts in Brussels say that appeals to the Court of Cassation are generally resolved within a few months, though the timeline could extend depending on the complexity of the arguments raised. If the Supreme Court upholds the appellate order, the extradition process could resume immediately; if not, the case may be remitted to a lower court for reconsideration.

Choksi’s case has drawn sustained attention in both India and Europe, not only because of the scale of the financial scandal but also due to the intricate jurisdictional challenges arising from his multiple citizenships and overseas movements.

For India, a favourable verdict in Belgium would mark a significant breakthrough in its efforts to bring back economic offenders who fled abroad after large-scale banking and corporate frauds — a campaign that has included parallel extradition cases involving figures such as Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya in the United Kingdom.

With PTI inputs