Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was on Monday given an interim bail by the Dominican High Court on medical grounds. He will be allowed to go to Antigua and Barbados for treatment of his neurological condition. He has been granted bail until he is fit for travel.
Choksi is also asked to deposit Eastern Carribean Dollars 10,000 (approximately Rs 2,75,000) as bail money to seek medical treatment. The court has also stayed his ongoing trial over his alleged illegal entry into Dominica on May 23 until his return.
Indian investigative agencies have sought his repatriation to India in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB Scam) which was unearthed in February 2018. Choksi along with his nephew Nirav Modi are the prime accused. Choksi had argued that he is no longer an Indian citizen as he took Antiguan citizenship in 2017. However, Antigua has agreed to send him back to India to face the law.
Earlier, Choksi’s family had alleged that he was abducted from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by Indian agencies and forcibly taken to Dominica in May. He was subsequently arrested in last week of May and Indian agencies sent a CBI officials on a private jet to get him back to India.
