New Delhi: Reacting to ABP News’ world exclusive interview of Mehul Choksi on charges against him in the USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, the ruling party BJP said that Choksi is a fugitive and if innocent he should prove it in court, while, the Congress slammed BJP saying Choksi has got government’s protection. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli while talking to ABP News said that every person has the right to say he is innocent until proven guilty,  but the question here is if he is innocent then why is he absconding? Kohli said that Choksi is a fugitive and he is nervous. 'The system cannot just catch hold of anybody anywhere, it has to follow protocol and abide by the rules', he said.

Kohli said that since Choksi wants to wash away his tainted image, he has now chosen to speak to media but the correct way is to prove innocence in court.

Watch BJP's reaction here:



Congress trained its guns at BJP over the matter, alleging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his office of complicity in his escape.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the Modi government of leaving "gaping holes" in the process of repatriation Choksi and giving him a "clean chit" that enabled him to escape from the country early this year.

Surjewala said not only fugitives like Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi have been allowed to escape but have also been given clean chit for Anitgua citizenship by the agencies.

He said that when Prime Minister Modi met Antigua PM Gaston Brownie in April, he did not raise Mehul Choksi’s matter with him.

Watch Congress' reaction here:


In ABP News’ World Exclusive telecast from Antigua, Choksi  has dubbed the alleged scam as a big political conspiracy. He says “they have put so many criminal cases against me…I became a soft target. Asserting that there was no fraud or scam committed by his company at all; it was rather a fraudulent complaint. He alleged “complacency in the reporting system of the bank to the reserve bank. Why the bank which conducts several audits in a year could not detect this? This is the case is most banks and you will be shocked to know how banks are run.”

Watch ABP News’ exclusive interview of Mehul Choksi here: