Fugitive Diamantaire Mehul Choksi Granted Interim Bail By Dominica Court On Medical Grounds

Choksi disappeared from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was later held in Dominica.

New Delhi: In a significant development, Fugitive Diamantaire Mehul Choksi was on Monday granted interim bail by Dominica Court on medical grounds.

Dominica Court has granted interim bail to fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi on medical grounds to travel to Antigua and Barbuda. Bail was granted strictly for medical treatment in Antigua.

The court has asked him to deposit 10,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars (EC) as security.

High court judge Bernie Stephenson said both parties signed a consent order agreeing for Mehul Choksi to travel. He will see a neurologist at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre in Antigua.

She said prior to bail Choksi will have to pay the bail amount to secure his return to Dominica.

Choksi must inform the court as to his address in Antigua and should also inform the court when he returns to Dominica. No date was given for him to return.

The high court has ruled that all matters against Choksi at the magistrate's court be adjourned.  

The police chief, magistrate, airport authorities and hospital medical director were to be served by the court so that arrangements can be made to facilitate the fugitive diamantaire's travel.

The matter of judicial review into the case of illegal entry is adjourned to January 2022. Choksi followed Monday's bail application from the Dominica China Friendship Hospital virtually via Zoom. He is under police guard as a patient at the hospital. 

Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal informed that the interim bail has been granted till "he is certified fit to travel" and after that, he has to come back to Dominica.

"Dominica courts has finally upheld the rule of law and rights of a human to be treated in the medical facilities of his choice," he said as quoted by news agency ANI.

Choksi had moved the bail petition citing grounds of neurological issues and contended that its treatment is not available in Dominica. He had also approached the High Court of Dominica seeking judicial review, claiming abuse of process for prosecution proceedings against him over his illegal entry.

Choksi has also got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court.

First Bail Petition Turned Down

This was his second bail petition in the high court after the earlier bail application was rejected.

High Court had denied him bail stating that he had no ties to Dominica and the court cannot impose any conditions which will assure it that he wouldn't abscond.

The court had also noted how Choksi proposed to stay with his brother in the hotel, but that is not a fixed address, adding that his trial has not started yet.

Choksi also had not offered any strong surety before the court while seeking bail and he has deemed a flight risk as well.

He has maintained that he was abducted on May 23 in Antigua and taken to Dominica against his will.

Choksi disappeared from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was later held in Dominica. He was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica after he allegedly escaped from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to India.

The 62-year-old fugitive is wanted in India in connection with a Rs 13,500-crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank (PNB).

(With additional inputs from Curtis Mathew, Dominica)