PNB Loan Fraud Case: Mehul Choksi Extradition Faces Legal Hurdles In Belgium; Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya Still Elude India

Mumbai: Seven years after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Mehul Choksi, Central agencies continue to wait to bring him to India for prosecution. Choksi’s arrest is just one hurdle that India has cleared, but his extradition remains a long and challenging process to negotiate with the Belgian government.

Following his arrest, Choksi’s lawyers in Belgium, are preparing to seek bail on medical grounds and argue that he is no longer an Indian national. The hearing may take time and will be followed by a legal battle between Indian agencies and Choksi’s lawyers.

It is worth noting that Choksi’s nephew, Nirav Modi, who is separately implicated in the PNB fraud case, has yet to be brought back to India despite being arrested in March 2019. Although Modi has not been released on bail, his extradition remains pending, even after the UK High Court dismissed his appeal against the extradition order in 2022.

Sources claim Modi has exhausted all legal remedies and is now seeking asylum in the UK – a process in which Indian agencies are not involved and which is unlikely to conclude even this year.

Additionally, Choksi’s other nephew, Neeshal, who has Belgian citizenship, remains beyond the reach of Indian agencies. The Belgian government has refused to extradite him to India.

Furthermore, India continues to battle for the extradition of Vijay Mallya, the 'Kingfisher King', since April 2017. Mallya was arrested by UK authorities in April 2017 at the request of Indian agencies but was soon released on bail by a court there. The legal battle for his extradition remains far from over.