Mumbai: It has been over seven years since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a plea to declare diamond trader Mehul Choksi a fugitive economic offender. However, the plea remains pending final adjudication, as his lawyers have filed over 50 applications, delaying the proceedings.
In response to the rise in economic crimes, the government enacted the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. The law aims to designate as fugitive individuals who flee the country after committing large-scale financial fraud and refuse to return. Such a declaration must be made through a judicial process and empowers authorities to confiscate the fugitive’s assets and properties.
Choksi, who is absconding in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, is currently in Belgium. He left India on January 2, 2018, claiming he was seeking medical treatment, and has not returned since. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, in February of that year.
The ED had in July moved a plea to declare Choksi and Modi fugitive economic offenders. Modi was declared a fugitive economic offender on June 8, 2020, after he failed to surrender before prosecuting agencies probing the PNB bank fraud. However, the plea against Choksi remains pending.
Choksi, in his defense, has raised two key issues. Firstly, he claims he could not return to India because his passport was revoked. Secondly, he maintains that he left for treatment and, at the time, no case was registered against him. The ED has countered that if Choksi was genuinely desirous of returning to India, he could have approached any Indian authority that would have facilitated his return.
Soon after the ED filed a plea to declare Mehul Choksi a fugitive, he challenged a special court’s order in the Bombay High Court in August 2019. The High Court granted interim relief by staying the proceedings, a stay that remained in effect until September 2023, when it was lifted after the ED intervened.
Court records reveal that Choksi’s legal team has filed over 50 applications, frequently seeking adjournments. In many hearings, arguments lasted just 10 minutes before new delays were requested.
According to ED sources, defense lawyers often submit applications requiring weeks for review, stalling progress on the main plea. Most recently, Choksi’s lawyers submitted a plea to introduce documents showing he is undergoing cancer treatment in Belgium – evidence they claim is crucial to explain his inability to return to India.
