Choksi’s plea to drop ‘fugitive economic offender’ tag nixed

A special PMLA court in Mumbai has rejected fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi’s plea to halt proceedings aimed at declaring him a fugitive economic offender (FEO), holding that his arguments carried no merit.

Choksi, arrested in Belgium earlier this year, had sought dismissal of the Enforcement Directorate’s application to designate him an FEO.

He argued that since he was presently in custody abroad on the basis of India’s extradition request, the FEO proceedings should not continue.

The ED opposed the plea, saying the 66-year-old had consistently resisted returning to India and was contesting extradition in Belgium.

The agency maintained that the FEO proceedings conclude only when an absconding accused appears before the court, which is not the case with Choksi. The court agreed with the ED’s position and refused to terminate the process.

Under the FEO Act, an individual can be declared a fugitive offender if the accused faces charges involving Rs 100 crore or more, leaves India, and refuses to come back. Once designated an FEO, the ED can move to confiscate the person’s properties.

Choksi’s legal battle has intensified after a Belgian appellate court on October 17 upheld India’s extradition request in the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. He has since challenged the decision in the Belgium’s Supreme Court.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused of defrauding the PNB by fraudulently securing Letters of Undertaking and foreign letters of credit from the bank’s Brady House branch in Mumbai.

While Choksi remains in Belgian custody, Nirav Modi is lodged in a London prison as his extradition case continues.