New Delhi: Fugitive Indian diamantaire Mehul Choksi, the alleged mastermind of the Rs.13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, got a brief reprieve on Friday when the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court In the High Court of Justice Commonwealth of Dominica stayed his repatriation.
The court’s next hearing in the case is scheduled for Saturday, May 28, at 9 am local time.
“This order is to be served immediately on the Defendants by email and fax and in person, and the Head of Immigration at the Douglas Charles Airport by email and fax,” read the court order, media reported on Saturday.
Earlier, Wayne Marsh, Choksi’s lawyer in Dominica, said that they were denied access to their client and it was only on May 27 that he was finally given access to speak to the accused.
“I noticed that he was severely beaten, his eyes were swollen and he had several burn marks on his body. He reported to me that he was abducted at Jolly Harbour in Antigua and brought to Dominica by persons whom he believed to be Indian and Antiguan police on a vessel he described to be about 60-70 feet in length,” Marsh told a media outlet.
Terming it a “travesty of justice”, he said the whole nation needs to speak out and as a lawyer, they would do whatever they can to stop the abuse of Choksi.
A massive manhunt was launched after Choksi went missing on Sunday and an Interpol Yellow Notice was issued by Antigua and Barbuda. He was traced and captured on a beach in Dominica.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi, who is in a London jail and fighting against repatriation, are wanted in India for allegedly siphoning off Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the state-run PNB using fake documents and letters of undertaking.
(VP)