Fugitive economic offender Mehul Choski has come up with a new excuse. He has claimed that he was unable to send legal documents to his lawyer in India because of an “untimely typhoon” in Antigua and Barbuda, reports The Indian Express. He was sending documents to challenge a special court order in the Bombay High Court.
On January 31, a special court had dismissed Choksi’s plea seeking examination of witnesses on the basis which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wanted to declare him a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.
The fugitive businessman wanted to challenge this order in the Bombay High Court but took well over the stipulated time period to file a plea. Mehul Choksi moved the High Court on July 4 and requested it to admit his plea. Under the limitation laws, an appeal has to be filed in the High Court within 30 days of the date of the order passed by a lower court.
“The counsel (of Choksi in India) failed to get the vakalatnamas within the limitation period due to untimely typhoon at Antigua which created chaos and also interrupted the courier service and the shipment through which the signed vakalatnamas were shipped by the applicant (Choksi) to the counsel on June 18 by FedEx courier and the same was received by the advocate of the applicant on June 24,” said Choksi’s application filed by his counsel Rahul Agarwal.
As per reports, PNB Scam accused Mehul Choksi had submitted to the court through his lawyer that he is too ill to travel and he is willing to be questioned in Antigua, where he had taken citizenship last year.
Choksi is presently residing in the Caribbean nation of Antigua. India has sought his extradition from that country and an Interpol arrest warrant has also been issued against him.
In a major shot in the arm for the Modi government, the Antiguan government has now decided to revoke Choksi’s citizenship. Antiguan PM Gaston Browne himself had declared that Choksi’s Antiguan citizenship will be rescinded. He had assured that he will be repatriated back to India.
This is not the first time fugitive offender Choski has been providing such excuses to delay his extradition process. Earlier, Mehul Choksi had submitted to the court through his lawyer that he is too ill to travel and he is willing to be questioned in Antigua, where he had taken citizenship last year.
In 2018, Mehul Choski had given a bizarre explanation claiming that there are numerous mob lynching incidents in India lately and had said that he feared the same if he came back to the country.
In January 2018, Mehul Choksi fled after the Rs 14,000-crore PNB fraud surfaced, in which diamantaires Nirav Modi and Choksi were the main accused. After fleeing the country, he surrendered his Indian passport and took up Antiguan citizenship.
