A Belgian court on Tuesday heard the arguments for the extradition of Mehul Choksi, people familiar with the matter said, adding that evidence against the fugitive diamantaire was discussed by the Indian side and Choksi’s defence team.
An officer said that the outcome of Tuesday’s extradition hearing, which took place from 2 pm to 4 pm (Belgium time), “will be marked to the ministry of security and interior which will have the final say on whether to approve the court’s decision and send Choksi back to India.”
The interior ministry, this person said, may take at least a month to decide on the extradition. The decision of the court was not known till late evening as the legal team present in the court in Antwerp were yet to brief officials in Delhi.
“We are hoping for a positive decision as there was robust evidence against Choksi and all the courts in Belgium had earlier rejected all his appeals,” said an officer who asked not to be named.
The legal team of Choksi has urged the Antwerp court to not extradite Choksi.
In December last year, Belgium’s Supreme Court had rejected Choksi’s appeal against his arrest in Antwerp on New Delhi’s request, and had ruled that his claims of being a subject of a political trial in India, or that he was abducted in 2021 in Antigua and Barbuda at the behest of India and runs risk of torture, are not “factual”.
Choksi, 65, is held in a prison in Antwerp following his arrest on April 11 last year at India’s request. Indian investigators have accused Choksi of six bank frauds, between 2018 and 2022, involving amounts totalling nearly ₹13,000 crore.
Choksi’s extradition has been sought under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) the Prevention of Corruption Act; which are crimes in Belgium as well under the dual criminality clause of the extradition treaty.
