INDIA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has clarified that Mehul Chinubhai Choksi, a fugitive wanted in multi-crore rupees PNB fraud, will be extradited and an INTERPOL Red Notice is not a requirement for extradition proceedings.
Choksi is a key accused in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case. He fled India in January 2018, days before the CBI booked him and his nephew Nirav Modi in the case.
Choksi had by then acquired the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda and has since been fighting the Indian government’s efforts to bring him back to the country.
A five-member chamber of the Commission for Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) took the decision on the deletion of the Red Notice, communicated in November 2022, based on mere imaginary conjunctures and unproven surmises of Choksi, the CBI statement read.
The CBI has taken up with CCF about the serious shortcomings and overreach of the mandate in reaching this unfounded and perfunctory decision, and the CBI continues to exercise available remedial and appellate options within INTERPOL for the rectification of this faulty decision and to restore the Red Notice.
The CCF is a separate body within INTERPOL, not under the control of the INTERPOL Secretariat, and is mainly staffed by elected lawyers from different countries. statement added.
An INTERPOL Red Notice is neither a prerequisite nor a requirement for extradition proceedings. The Global Operations Centre of the CBI continues to closely monitor the movements of wanted criminals like Choksi in direct coordination with foreign law enforcement agencies and is not reliant only on INTERPOL channels.
Even Antigua authorities consider that there is sufficient evidence to substantiate that Choksi concealed material facts and made false representations when he applied for his Antigua and Barbuda citizenship, the CBI pointed out.
The extradition request made by India is under active consideration before the authorities in Antigua and Barbuda and remains unaffected by the “Red Notice.” The CBI remains committed to the return of fugitives and criminals to India to face criminal justice.
Systematic steps have been initiated in close coordination with foreign law enforcement agencies for the geo-location and return of wanted criminals and economic offenders. In the last 15 months, over 30 wanted criminals have returned to India, the statement read.
On February 15, 2018, a case was registered against Choksi and others for defrauding Punjab National Bank. The CBI filed two charge sheets under Sections 120-B, read with Sections 409, 420, 477A, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 7 and 13 (2), read with Sections 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.
In 2022, the CBI registered five more criminal cases against Choksi and others for defrauding banks and financial institutions.
The CBI as the National Central Bureau for INTERPOL, issued a diffusion to locate absconding Choksi in February 2018. The movements of the criminal were tracked by the CBI in direct coordination with foreign law enforcement agencies, and he was geo-located in Antigua and Barbuda.
The request for his extradition was sent through diplomatic channels to the competent authorities of Antigua and Barbuda in August 2018.
In the same year, Choksi approached the CCF, making a request for the non-publication of the Red Notice. The CCF dismissed his representation after consulting with the CBI and INTERPOL, which published a red notice in December 2018.
Choksi was already located prior to the publication of the INTERPOL Red Notice, and steps were initiated for his extradition. Although the primary purpose of the “Red Notice” was achieved, it was retained as a precautionary measure.
In 2019, Choksi approached the CCF, seeking the removal of the “Red Notice” from INTERPOL’s website. CCF consulted CBI and, based on inputs, dismissed his plea again in 2020.
Then Choksi again approached the CCF with concocted dramatic stories in July 2022 to revise its earlier decision of 2020. Then the CCF took a decision on the deletion of the Red Notice.
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