(MENAFN- Live Mint) Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has formally launched a challenge before the Supreme Court of Belgium - the Court of Cassation - against the recent ruling that deemed India's request for his extradition“enforceable”, reported news agency Press Trust of India (PTI).

The public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Antwerp, Ken Witpas, said Choksi filed an appeal in the Court of Cassation on 30 October, according to the PTI report.

The appeal was filed, following the decision by the Antwerp Court of Appeals on 17 October.

“This appeal is strictly limited to legal merits and will be judged by the Court of Cassation. During this procedure, the execution of the extradition is suspended,” Ken Witpas said.

Extradition Process

The Court of Appeals' indictment chamber had upheld the findings of the district court's pre-trial chamber, ruling that the arrest warrants, originally issued by a special court in Mumbai in May 2018 and June 2021, were indeed“enforceable”.

Crucially, the Antwerp Court of Appeals ruled that Choksi, who is the main accused in the ₹13,000 crore PNB scam, faces“no risk” of being subjected to ill-treatment or denied a fair trial should he be returned to India. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged in its chargesheet that Choksi alone siphoned off ₹6,400 crore of the total scam amount.

The process in Belgium began after India sent an extradition request on 27 August 2024. The Public Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Antwerp, Division Turnhout, initiated action to enforce the Mumbai court's arrest warrants on 25 November 2024.

While the pre-trial chamber initially declared the arrest warrants enforceable, it made a single exception, excluding the charge related to "causing the disappearance of evidence of the crime."

Choksi, who fled India for Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018 just before the scandal was revealed, was subsequently located in Belgium, where he was reportedly seeking medical treatment.

India has provided the Belgian authorities with several assurances regarding Choksi's safety, the specific charges he would face during trial, prison arrangements, human rights compliance, and the provision of his medical needs.

Nirav Modi case

In the meantime, Choksi's nephew Nirav Modi's case is scheduled to commence in London this month.

Modi had earlier stated that there would be“sensational developments” when his Indian extradition case, involving fraud and money laundering charges, reopens.

“They (Bank of India) refer to my extradition... I'm still here. There will be some sensational developments, and I have never used these words before,” said Nirav, during a pre-trial review hearing in October, as per a PTI report.

Modi has earlier spoken about struggles with his eyesight and lengthy delays over access to a computer behind bars, which he stressed made any trial unfair and imbalanced.

“I understand this is an adversarial process, and they (Bank of India) can say anything against me. But they keep on making assumptions; I would say, spend one day in prison... there needs to be some basic common sense,” he had said in court, as per a PTI report.

Modi is wanted in India in the estimated $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case.

With PTI inputs

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