Mehul Choksi, the prime accused in the alleged PNB scam worth billions of rupees and a diamond trader, has not been able to return to India for a long time. He himself has told the court the reason why he is not able to return. He has said that he is not able to return to India due to several reasons. He says that on this basis he cannot be declared a fugitive economic offender. Choksi has claimed that he did not leave India to avoid criminal prosecution, nor is he refusing to return to the country. According to Bhasha’s news, he said that his passport has been suspended by Indian authorities.
Choksi claimed
According to the news, Choksi made these claims in an application filed before the special PMLA court last Wednesday. In this, he has requested for suspension of passport and direction to summon documents related to the investigation being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him. The petition filed through advocate Vijay Aggarwal states that the current proceedings against Choksi are related to the ED’s petition to declare him a fugitive economic offender (FEO) and the relevant documents need to be summoned for a fair decision in the case. The petition states that according to the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, a fugitive economic offender is a person against whom a court of India has issued an arrest warrant on a scheduled offense and has left India to avoid criminal prosecution or is not returning to the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution.
The answer to the summons was given to ED
The petition said that the ED’s application shows that none of the two conditions have been fulfilled to declare Choksi a fugitive economic offender. Choksi claimed that in February 2018, he had responded to the ED’s summons issued against him to appear before the investigating agency and said that he was unable to return to India as his passport had been suspended by the Indian authorities. The accused has also attached a notice issued to him by the passport office in his petition, citing security threat to India as the reason for suspension of his passport.
Hearing adjourned till June 3
The application said that under such circumstances, the ED’s stance that Choksi is not returning to India is wrong as he cannot be expected to return when his passport has been suspended. The application said that therefore, for the decision of the present case (petition to declare him a fugitive economic offender), it is necessary that the reasons and documents showing the suspension of Choksi’s passport be brought on record. The court hearing the cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) summoned a reply from the ED on Choksi’s plea and adjourned the hearing of the case till June 3. Let us tell you, Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted by the ED and the CBI for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank of Rs 13,400 crore in connivance with some bank employees.
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