Mehul Choksi's appeal against India's extradition request rejected by Belgium's supreme court

New Delhi: Belgium's supreme court -- the Court of Cassation -- on Tuesday rejected the appeal of fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi challenging the extradition request of India in connection with the Rs 13000-crore alleged bank fraud in Punjab National Bank, authorities in that country said.

Choksi, who escaped to Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018, days before the scam was detected, was spotted in Belgium, where he had purportedly sought treatment. India had sent an extradition request to Belgium on August 27, 2024, based on arrest warrants issued by a special court in Mumbai.

Responding to PTI, Spokesperson for Court of Cassation, Advocaat-generaal Henri Vanderlinden, said, "The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal. So, the decision of the Court of Appeal stands." The process of his extradition will begin now, officials said.

The Antwerp Court of Appeal had upheld India's request for Choksi's extradition while terming it "enforceable".

A four-member indictment chamber at the Court of Appeals in Antwerp did not find any infirmity in the orders issued by the pre-trial chamber of the district court on November 29, 2024, terming the arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai special court in May 2018 and June 2021 as "enforceable", allowing Choksi's extradition.

The Court of Appeals had ruled that Choksi, the main accused in a Rs-13,000 crore PNB scam, faces "no risk" of being denied a fair trial or subjected to ill-treatment if he is extradited to India.

The Court of Cassation only checks the decision of the court of appeal "on legal aspects" such as whether the court of appeal correctly applied the legal dispositions, and whether they follow the right procedure, Vanderlinden had said in response to PTI questions last month.

"So, new facts or evidence cannot be placed," he had said.

"The proceedings are, in essence, a written one. As a rule, all cases are heard. If the court refuses to admit the appeal, it will be on legal grounds, for example, the person who filed the complaint did not have the legal competence to do so," Vanderlinden had explained.

Of the total scam amount, Choksi alone has siphoned off Rs 6,400 crore, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged in its chargesheet.

The public prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Antwerp, Division Turnhout, initiated an action on November 25, 2024, seeking the enforcement of arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai court.

The pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp District Court, Turnhout Division, in its order dated November 29, 2024, held that the arrest warrants against Choksi issued by the Mumbai court were enforceable, except for the order related to "causing the disappearance of evidence of the crime".

When Choksi appealed against this verdict in the Antwerp Court of Appeals, it rejected his claims that he personally faces a real, present and serious risk of being subjected to flagrant denial of justice, torture or inhuman and degrading treatment in India.

India has given a number of assurances to Belgium about Choksi's safety, the charges that he would face during trial in India, prison arrangements, human rights and medical needs.

The Court of Appeals had ruled that 66-year-old Choksi faces "no risk" of being denied a fair trial or subjected to ill-treatment if he is extradited to India.

Dismissing the appeal filed by Choksi against the district court, the Court of Appeals held that the businessman failed to provide "concretely plausible" evidence of a "genuine risk" of torture or denial of justice.

It held that the documents Choksi submitted do not substantiate his claims that he is the subject of a political trial.

The order was a strong validation of India's case seeking his extradition.