VIP treatment for economic offenders

THE Indian government’s latest assurances to Belgium — detailing everything from adequate food and medical care to ventilation and personal space for Mehul Choksi — underscore how protracted the battle to bring fugitive economic offenders home has become. Choksi, accused in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam along with his nephew Nirav Modi, continues to evade Indian courts by exploiting legal loopholes abroad. Vijay Mallya, wanted for bank defaults running into thousands of crores, has managed to stretch his extradition case in UK courts for years. Nirav Modi has resisted similar efforts by citing mental health concerns and prison conditions. The common thread in all these cases is the ability of the accused to leverage foreign judicial systems’ human rights standards to delay justice.