'Choksi will soon be brought back', says senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam

Senior lawyer and expert in extradition-related matters Ujjwal Nikam on Thursday said that relying on arguments in Dominican court it can be assumed that the fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi will be handed over to Indian authorities.

"Legal proceedings are going on in Dominican court but we all know that with legal proceedings efforts on diplomatic level are also going on simultaneously. We all expect that our legal battle in Dominican court and the efforts of our diplomatic channel will bear fruit and Choksi will soon be brought back," Ujjwal Nikam said.

"Dominican Court is primarily to decide on the issue if Mehul Choksi's entry in the country or not. After that it would be another question before it that his custody should be given to which country India or Antigua. This will be interesting to see what facts and arguments Dominica court relies on ultimately, but relying on arguments in court we can assume that he will be handed over to Indian authorities," Nikam further said.

He also added that India has successfully produced documents of his Indian citizenship including Aadhaar Card, lookout notice, Interpol notices and NBW from Mumbai Court.

Talking about Choksi's citizenship being scrapped, Nikam said that there is a misconception in Choksi and his lawyer's mind on the matter.

"There is a misconception in Mehul Choksi and his lawyer's mind that as per section 9 of the Indian citizenship act, his citizenship gets over by default of the acquires citizenship of some other country," he said,

"But I would like to remind them that according to Subsection 2 of Section 9 of the Indian Citizenship Act there are some conditions of someone's citizenship getting expired it doesn't happen by default."

"Even we have documents that Antiguan and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has raised issues over his Antiguan citizenship because he suppressed facts while obtaining it. Dominican Lawyer had already appealed to the court that Choksi be handed over to India," he added.

Furthermore, he said that this is an important case for Antigua to set a precedent if it will allow citizenship to fraudsters and absconders from other countries for investing some amount in the country.

Meanwhile, Vijay Aggarwal, lawyer of fugitive diamantaire today said that a magisterial court in Dominica has rejected the bail application of Mehul Choksi in connection with his illegal entry into the country.

Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was soon caught in Dominica after Antigua police launched a manhunt for Mehul Choksi last month.

( With inputs from ANI )