This is what Mehul Choksi plans to do next as India prepares for extradition

Mehul Choksi, one of the key accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, was arrested by Belgium authorities on Saturday, April 12, acting on India's extradition request. While India moves to fast-track his extradition, Mehul Choksi's legal team has started preparations to fight a legal battle and seek his release on health grounds.

Mehul Choksi is reportedly undergoing a cancer treatment.

The fugitive diamantaire's lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, said in a statement that Mehul Choksi's will soon requesting that he be moved out of prison, citing his poor health.

“He is not a flight risk at all,” his lawyer argues.

Also Read | Mehul Choksi arrested in Belgium — How PNB scam accused evaded capture for years

“My client, Mehul Choksi, has been arrested in Belgium, and at the moment, he is in custody. We will be starting the process of filing an appeal against this, and then, as a process of appeal, we will be requesting that he be pulled out of prison. The major ground for the plea is his ill health and that he is undergoing cancer treatment,” he said.

His lawyer added that the legal team would file the appeal that Mehul Choksi should be permitted to defend himself. He said their legal defense would be that this is a “political case and the human condition [in Indian prisons] was not good”.

He added, “There is no push. It is a process. Non-bailable warrants have been issued against him since 2018. It is a prerequisite for extradition that there has to be an open-ended, non-bailable warrant. Earlier, they tried to pick him up from Dominica, where they failed. So then, by the Dominican court order, my client was getting his treatment in Antigua."

"For his medical treatment, he had to go to Belgium, and he has been there getting his treatment for the cancer. Whenever for any country, there is an extradition request made by another country wherein they have a treaty. First of all, the person has to be arrested, then the person has to show that he's got community ties, and then we have to show that he is not a flight risk and that there is a medical condition. So that's the only ground.”

Mehul Choksi is wanted in India for ₹13,000 crore PNB scam.

(With agency inputs)