Mehul Choksi and his wife Priti
On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed a plea filed by the wife of diamond trader Mehul Choksi, seeking cancellation of a bailable warrant issued against her in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) case.
Priti Choksi had said in her plea last month that the ED issued summons to her in Mumbai, even though the agency knew that she did not live there, and hence, it cannot be considered that she had not complied with the summons.
ED has said that a summons was issued to her last known address as per procedure.
A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) issued the warrant in August after she was named an accused in the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED in 2020.
Her lawyer Rahul Agarwal, filed a plea stating that she was unaware of the legal proceedings as she has been residing in Antigua and Barbuda since 2018, before the ED filed the complaint.
The plea further stated that she reported her husband’s disappearance to the local Antiguan police in 2021, and the issue was heard by the High Court, with CBI being a party in the proceedings.
Priti is the wife of Mehul Choksi, a businessman born in India and residing in Antigua and Barbuda, is wanted by Indian judicial authorities for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty, corruption, and money laundering.
Mehul, who has been a citizen of Antigua since 2017, denies all allegations against him as false, baseless, and politically motivated.
He owns Gitanjali Group, a retail jewelry company with 4,000 stores in India.
Choksi is also facing an arrest warrant in connection with the alleged Punjab National Bank fraud case and accusations of stock market manipulation in 2013.
In May 2021, he went missing from Antigua and Barbuda, with some claiming that Indian state agents kidnaped him while others believe he fled the country.
However, he was later found and arrested in Dominica for illegal entry and returned to Antigua and Barbuda on interim bail for medical treatment.
In May 2022, the Dominican Government dropped the charge of illegal entry against Choksi, but investigations into his disappearance are still ongoing
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