ED's plea to declare Choksi fugitive stuck in Mumbai court for 7 years

Even as absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi a key accused in the Punjab National Bank loan fraud case has been arrested in Belgium the EDs plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender has been pending before a court in Mumbai for nearly seven yearsChoksi 65 and his nephew diamantaire Nirav Modi are the prime accused in the Rs 13000 crore PNB bank loan fraud case Choksi was arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies official sources said on MondayThe Enforcement Directorate had filed the application in July 2018 seeking to declare Choksi an FEO and confiscate his assets under provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders ActHowever the matter has witnessed repeated delays owing to a barrage of applications filed by the accused in the PMLA court and the Bombay High Court alleging procedural lapses in the Enforcement Directorates pleaThe court is kept busy with frivolous applications and hearing on our application to declare him Choksi an FEO has been adjourned for the past seven years an ED officer had said after the hearing was once again deferred this FebruaryThe court should have continued the hearing and taken a decision on the future course of action once the application was moved the officer had saidHe had urged the court to take note of the repeated filing of similar applications and to not entertain themChoksis lawyer had informed the court that the accused was undergoing treatment for suspected cancer in Belgium and intended to file an application in connection with his healthUnder the FEO Act an individual can be declared a Fugitive Economic Offender if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving Rs 100 crore or more and he has left India while refusing to return Once declared an FEO the persons property can be confiscated by the investigating agencyChoksi had challenged the EDs application in the Bombay High Court alleging that the agency had not followed proper procedure before filing the application and hence it stands vitiatedHowever in September 2023 the High Court dismissed his plea ruling that the ED had adhered to the prescribed format under the FEO Act It also vacated a stay on the special courts proceedingsDespite this the hearing on declaring Choksi FEO could not commence with Choksi continuing to file applications before the special court through his lawyersWhile most of these pleas have been dismissed a few remain pending His latest attempt to stall proceedings through a plea to recall the notice issued on the EDs FEO application was rejected in December 2023According to ED officials Choksi left India under suspicious circumstances in early January 2018Choksis counsel has argued that the ED kept shifting its stance on the material grounds for declaring him an FEO and that the suspension of his Indian passport made it impossible for him to return for investigationThe court however rejected this argument stating that the notice was issued based on accurate information and not based on wrong facts or mistaken assumptionsED claimed the accused left the country under suspicious circumstances in the first week of January 2018Nirav Modi has already been declared as an FEO by the special court He has been lodged in jail in London since 2019Choksi has been arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agenciesThe action against the second prime suspect in this case after Nirav Modi was taken on Saturday based on an extradition request moved by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and the Enforcement Directorate ED official sources saidChoksi was located in Belgium last year when he went there on the grounds of getting medical treatment He had been staying in Antigua since 2018 after leaving IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params