Choksi moves Dominica HC for judicial review, claims abuse of process in illegal entry prosecution proceedings

By Sushil Batra
Roseau [Dominica], July 6 (ANI): Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi has approached the High Court of Dominica seeking judicial review, claiming abuse of process in respect of illegal entry prosecution proceedings against him.
Choksi's Counsel, Advocate Vijay Aggarwal while talking to ANI confirmed that a petition was filed in the High Court of Dominica for judicial review of the plea "claiming of abuse of process in respect of illegal entry prosecution proceedings against Mehul Choksi."
He added that "in the Magistrate's Court when the magistrate was informed of this fresh petition filing, because of propriety and pendency in a higher judicial forum, the concerned magistrate adjourned the case to August 27.
Hearing on a bail application by Mehul Choksi has been also adjourned to July 23, confirms his lawyer.
Also, this is Choksi's second bail petition as his earlier bail application was rejected. Dominica High Court while denying bail to him had said he has no ties to Dominica and the court cannot impose any conditions which will assure it that he wouldn't abscond.
Dominica High Court also pointed out how Choksi proposed that he will stay with his brother in the hotel, but that was not a fixed address. The court also noted that his trial has not started yet.
Earlier, Judge Wynante Adrien-Roberts of Dominica High Court decided not to grant bail to Mehul Choksi after the conclusion of the submissions made by both sides. The court also highlighted that Mehul Choksi didn't offer any strong surety before the court while he sought bail and he's a flight risk too.
Currently, Choksi has got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court.
Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 and was caught on charges of illegal entry into Dominica by police after he allegedly fled Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to avoid extradition to India.
Choksi's team has been claiming that he belongs to Antigua as he acquired citizenship of that island in 2018. Meanwhile, Indian authorities told the Dominica High Court in their affidavit that Choksi is an Indian citizen and noted that he is erroneously claiming renunciation of citizenship under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The 62-year-old Choksi is wanted in India in connection with the Rs 13,500 crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank case. (ANI)