Lawyers of Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi who was detained in Dominica have registered a habeas corpus petition in a court of the Caribbean island country after they were denied access to him. Choksi’s legal adviser Vijay Aggarwal has also raised concerns on the manner of him going missing from
Antigua and Barbuda only to be confined in Dominica, about 100 nautical miles away, for illegal entry.
"The legal team has filed a habeas corpus petition in Dominica for Mehul Choksi and have also highlighted deprivation of access to Mehul Choksi and deprivation of constitutional rights to legal assistance," Aggarwal said.
Choksi’s lawyer in Dominica, Wayne Marsh has told that he was allowed to interact with Choksi after several efforts and the diamantaire claimed that he was picked up by men who looked like Indian and Antiguan policemen at Jolly Harbour in Antigua and Barbuda and was put in a vessel. Marsh further stated that he saw marks on Choksi’s body who also had swollen eyes and feared for his life. Adding that Choksi is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and not India, thus he should be sent back.
The way Choksi mysteriously disappeared, Aggarwal has called it ‘fishy’.
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"Lawyers for Choksi in Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica have been trying to have a legal interview with him as per his constitutional rights but they were denied access to him. After great effort they were able to speak to Choksi for two minutes during which he narrated a horrifying experience which is an eye-opener and vindicates my stand that he would not have gone from Antigua voluntarily," Aggarwal said.
Aggarwal said that Choksi after he was picked from Antigua, he was kept somewhere and then he was taken to a police station. The news came to light on Wednesday. He further added that there is something fishy about all this episode, “I guess it was a strategy to take him to another country so that there are chances of sending him back to India. So I don’t know what forces are operating. Only time will tell," he stated.
Choksi is wanted in Rs 13,500 crore loan fraud in the Punjab National Bank and had fled India to Antigua. He was last seen going for dinner in his car on Sunday. He was reported missing after his car was found.
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Meanwhile, the Dominica government on Thursday has confirmed Choksi’s presence in the country citing he has been detained for illegal entry.