Mehul Choksi Runs into Another Legal Wall as Extradition Looms

Antiguan and Barbudan citizen Mehul Choksi’s latest bid for leniency has failed. The 66-year-old diamond merchant, once at the helm of the glittering Gitanjali empire, asked to be placed under house arrest in Belgium, complete with electronic monitoring.

Choksi left Antigua and Barbuda over a year ago to seek medical attention in Belgium, although the Indian government was chasing him down to answer charges in a major PNB case. He was arrested there.

The appeal court dismissed the request a few days ago, leaving him to face an extradition battle that could decide whether he ever returns to India.

That hearing is scheduled for mid-September, and Indian investigators are preparing heavily. A CBI team has already landed in Brussels, handing Belgian prosecutors boxes of evidence and pledging full cooperation. The agency is also weighing the support of a European law firm to bolster the case.

Choksi’s troubles stem from one of India’s largest banking scandals the Punjab National Bank fraud. Alongside his nephew, Nirav Modi, he is accused of siphoning billions through fraudulent Letters of Undertaking at PNB’s Mumbai branch. Modi has been jailed in London since 2019, still fighting his own extradition.

Indian authorities have stacked the legal deck, citing corruption laws, criminal conspiracy, and even international treaties such as the UN conventions against corruption and organised crime. Belgian law recognises these offences too, which may work against Choksi.

For now, the fugitive jeweller remains behind bars, his plea for the comfort of home denied, as the countdown begins to a courtroom showdown in Brussels.

He received Antiguan and Barbudan citizenship by investment.