Antigua revokes Mehul Choksi's citizenship

The Antiguan government on Tuesday declared its decision to revoke the citizenship of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, according to multiple reports.

Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the Citizenship of diamantaire Mehul Choksi, accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank scam, will be revoked in short order.

Following the proceedings, the Antiguan Prime Minister on Tuesday said that Choksi has the right to defend his position.

"But I can assure you after he has exhausted all of his legal options, he will be extradited,” Browne said.

“His citizenship was processed; he got through but the reality is his citizenship will be revoked and he will be repatriated to India; so there is recourse. It’s not a case that we are trying to provide any safe harbour for criminals, for those who are involved in financial crimes,” the prime minister said to local newspaper reports.

He said, “We have to allow for due process. He has a matter before the court and as we said to the Indian Government, criminals have fundamental rights, too, and Choksi has a right to go to court and defend his position. But I can assure you, after he has exhausted all of his legal options, he will be extradited.”

Extradition process against Choksi, who is an accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank scam, began in March.

In January, last year, Choksi absconded after the Rs 14,000-crore PNB fraud came to light, whereby the primary accused were diamantaires Nirav Modi and Choksi himself. Following this, he surrendered his Indian passport and took up Antiguan citizenship.