The extradition of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi to India may be delayed further as a court in Dominica on May 27 stayed his repatriation. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice Commonwealth of Dominica has restrained Dominica Government from extradition of Mehul Choksi and asked the police to allow him to meet his legal counsel.
The next hearing in the matter on Friday at 9 am local time, as per an NDTV report.
The court stopped Choksi's removal from the country after his lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition stating they were allegedly not given access to him.
Under a habeas corpus petition, an arrested person has to be brought before a judge, especially to secure the person's release "unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention".
Choksi, who had recently fled from Antigua and Barbuda, was captured in neighbouring Dominica after an Interpol Yellow Notice was issued against him.
"The legal team has filed a habeas corpus petition in Dominica for Mehul Choksi and have also highlighted deprivation of access to Mehul Choksi and deprivation of constitutional rights to legal assistance," Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told PTI.
Aggarwal also raised doubts about the way Choksi had gone missing from Antigua and Barbuda only to be detained in Dominica, about 100 nautical miles away, for illegal entry.
His lawyer in Dominica, Wayne Marsh, had told a radio show that in a brief interaction with Choksi, allowed by authorities after a lot of efforts, the diamantaire had claimed that he was picked up at Jolly Harbour in Antigua and Barbuda by men looking like Indian and Antiguan policemen and was put in a vessel.
Marsh had said he saw marks on the body of Choksi who had swollen eyes and feared for his life. He said Choksi is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and not India hence he should be sent back.
Aggarwal called the entire episode of his mysterious disappearance and detention in Dominica "fishy".
Meanwhile, Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne had asked Dominica to send him back to India saying "Antigua will not accept Choksi back".
Choksi, who is wanted in a Rs 13,500 crore loan fraud in the Punjab National Bank, was last seen going for dinner in his car in Antigua and Barbuda on May 23. His staff had reported him missing after his car was found.
The Dominica government later confirmed his presence on its soil saying he has been "detained" for illegal entry.