Mehul Choksi applies for bail in Dominica High Court in illegal entry case

LE Desk

New Delhi, July 5, 2021: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has once again applied for bail in the Dominica High Court in connection with his illegal entry into the country. Choksi was denied relief in the same matter on two prior occasions.

The hearing on Choksi’s bail plea will likely take place on July 6, India Today reported.

Earlier in June, Choksi’s bail application was rejected by a Dominican magistrate’s court, following which he had moved the High Court. The upper court, too, denied bail to the Indian businessman on the grounds that he was a ‘flight risk’.

Wanted in India in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank scam, Choksi mysteriously went missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he had been staying since 2018 as a citizen. He was later detained in neighbouring Dominica for illegal entry and deemed to be a prohibited immigrant. The diamantaire claims he was forcefully abducted and brought to the Caribbean island nation.

Mehul Choksi is also facing two cases in Antigua and Barbuda. One deals with his extradition to India and the other concerns revocation of his citizenship.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said that India is committed to getting Mehul Choksi back from Dominica.