A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday rejected an application filed by businessman Mehul Choksi through which he was seeking records that were related to the suspension of his passport from the regional passport office.
Choksi is an accused in a multi-million dollar scam related to the Punjab National Bank and the government has been claiming making efforts to extradite him to India from Antigua where he is said to be currently lodged.
Choksi has been claiming that he has not been able to return to India as the government has suspended his passport on the grounds of a “security threat to India”.
However, apart from this application, Choksi also sought some relevant documents of chargesheet from his relative, fugitive Nirav Modi’s documents to be furnished, which the special judge for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases SM Menjoge allowed.
Choksi, through his lawyers Vijay Aggarwal, Rahul Agarwal and Jasmin Purani, was also seeking copies of investigation files relevant to decide whether there are sufficient grounds to declare Choksi a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO). This was also allowed by the court with a direction.
The judge directed the Enforcement Directorate to produce only attested copies of those documents on whose basis reasons to believe that Choksi is an FEO are based.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had moved the court seeking to declare the businessman a fugitive economic offender, and an examination of these documents was necessary “for fair adjudication of the matter”, said Choksi’s application.
Under the Fugitive Economic Offender Act, 2018, a person against whom a warrant has been issued in relation to a scheduled offence by any court in India and who has left the country to avoid criminal prosecution (or refuses to return to the country), can be declared an FEO.
Choksi and Modi, are both wanted by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly defrauding the Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 13,400 crore in collusion with a few of its employees.
Choksi has claimed that he neither left India to avoid criminal prosecution nor was he refusing to return, “but he has been unable to return due to reasons beyond his control”.
