New Delhi: Lawyers of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi have filed a habeas corpus petition in a court of the Carribean island country. They did so after they were allegedly not given access to him, his legal counsel Vijay Aggarwal said. Mehul Choksi was detained in Dominica after he allegedly fled Antigua and Barbuda where he is a citizen from 2017.
“The legal team has filed a habeas corpus petition in Dominica for Mehul Choksi. They have also highlighted deprivation of access to Choksi and deprivation of constitutional rights to legal assistance,” Aggarwal told this agency.
Earlier in the day, Aggarwal had raised doubts about the way Choksi had gone missing from Antigua and Barbuda. He was then detained in Dominica, about 100 nautical miles away, for illegal entry.
Choksi’s lawyer in Dominica, Wayne Marsh told a radio show that he managed a brief interaction with Choksi. It was allowed by authorities after lot of efforts. In the interaction Choksi claimed that he was picked up at Jolly Harbour in Antigua and Barbuda by men looking like Indians. In association with Antiguan policemen he was put in a vessel.
Marsh had said he saw marks on the body of Choksi who had swollen eyes and feared for his life. He said Choksi is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and not India hence he should be sent back.
Aggarwal called the entire episode of his mysterious disappearance and detention in Dominica ‘fishy’.
Also read: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi captured in Dominica
“Lawyers for Choksi in Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica have been trying to have a legal interview with him. This is as per his constitutional rights but they were denied access to him. After great effort they were able to speak to Choksi for two minutes. He narrated a horrifying experience which is an eye-opener and vindicates my stand that he would not have gone from Antigua voluntarily,” Aggarwal said.
Aggarwal said that after being taken from Antigua, Choksi was kept somewhere. Then Monday he was taken to a police station. Since then he has been there and this news to the world was broken only Wednesday. There were also marks on his body,” Aggarwal said.
“There is something fishy. I guess it was a strategy to take him to another country so that there are chances of sending him back to India. So I don’t know what forces are operating. Only the time will tell,” informed Aggarwal.
Choksi is wanted in a Rs 13,500-crore loan fraud in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in India. He was last seen going for dinner Sunday in his car in Antigua and Barbuda. His staff had reported him missing after his car was found.
The Dominica government confirmed his presence on its soil (Thursday Indian time). It said he has been ‘detained’ for illegal entry.