India hands over Mehul Choksi's extradition request to Antigua

India had requested authorities in Antigua and Barbuda to detain the PNB scam fugitive and to restrict his movements by land, sea and air.

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday formally handed over the request for fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi to the Antiguan authorities. Choksi, a prime accused in the alleged Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, had earlier claimed that he had taken the citizenship of Antigua last year to expand his business. The passport of the Caribbean nation provides him visa-free travel to 132 countries.

India had earlier requested authorities in Antigua and Barbuda to detain the PNB scam fugitive after it received information about his presence in the Caribbean island. Authorities in India have been in touch with the island nation following reports of Choksi's presence there and had requested them to restrict his movements by land, sea and air.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police on Saturday said that they gave a "clear report" to Choksi last year as no criminal antecedents were found against him. Police also said they have ordered an inquiry "into the matter of issuance of police verification report (PVR)" to Choksi when he obtained the passport in Mumbai in 2015.

Choksi had obtained his passport under the 'Tatkal' category after the Regional Passport Office (RPO) granted him "No Police Verification Required" status in 2015, a Mumbai Police release said. Because of this status, no PVR was generated from the Mumbai Police.

Choksi left the country on January 1 this year, and an offence was registered against him by the CBI on January 31 (in the PNB scam). The city police is also examining their "internal processes involved in the criminal antecedents verification process to improve the existing system".

A newspaper report from Antigua had said that Indian authorities did not give any adverse report to stall Choksi's citizenship application in that country last year. Choksi's application for citizenship in Antigua in May 2017 was accompanied with clearance from the local police as required by norms, Antiguan newspaper the Daily Observer reported.

As the news report created a furore, a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs had said on Friday that PCC was issued by the passport office of Mumbai for Antigua and Barbuda on the basis of a clear PVR available on his passport. "As the PVR of Mehul Choksi was clear in the system at the time of issuance of PCC, the process followed by Passport Office, Mumbai, was as per extant instructions," he said.