In a significant development, Belgium's supreme court -- the Court of Cassation -- on Tuesday rejected the appeal of fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi challenging his extradition to India in connection with the alleged Rs 13000 crore fraud in Punjab National Bank, authorities in that country said.
Responding to PTI, Spokesperson for Court of Cassation, Advocaat-generaal Henri Vanderlinden, said, "The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal. So, the decision of the Court of Appeal stands." The Antwerp Court of Appeal had upheld India's request for Choksi's extradition while terming it "enforceable".
The development comes as a four-member indictment chamber at the Court of Appeals in Antwerp did not find any infirmity in the orders issued by the pre-trial chamber of the district court on November 29, 2024, terming the arrest warrants issued by a Mumbai special court in May 2018 and June 2021 as "enforceable", allowing Choksi's extradition.
The Court of Appeals had ruled that Choksi, the main accused in a Rs-13,000 crore PNB scam, faces "no risk" of being denied a fair trial or subjected to ill-treatment if he is extradited to India.
Choksi, who escaped to Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018, days before the scam was detected, was spotted in Belgium, where he had purportedly sought treatment.
Earlier, India sent an extradition request to Belgium on August 27, 2024, based on arrest warrants issued by the special court in Mumbai.
