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Fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi has challenged earlier Belgium's Supreme Court an October 17 ruling by the Antwerp Court of Appeal that had upheld India's petition for his extradition, calling it "enforceable", officials said connected Monday (November 4, 2025).
In effect to queries sent by PTI, the nationalist authoritative astatine the Court of Appeal successful Antwerp said Choksi filed an entreaty successful the Court of Cassation connected October 30.
"This entreaty is strictly constricted to ineligible merits and volition beryllium judged by the Court of Cassation. During this procedure, the execution of the extradition is suspended," Advocate General Ken Witpas said successful his effect to PTI.
The Court of Cassation is the Supreme Court of Belgium.
On October 17, a four-member indictment enclosure astatine the Court of Appeals successful Antwerp recovered nary infirmity successful the orders issued by the pre-trial enclosure of the territory tribunal connected November 29, 2024, terming the apprehension warrants issued by a Mumbai peculiar tribunal successful May 2018 and June 2021 arsenic "enforceable", allowing Choksi's extradition.
File representation of Choksi taken successful a wheelchair to the magistrate's tribunal by constabulary aft his apprehension for amerciable introduction into the country, successful Roseau, Dominica | Photo Credit: AP
The Court of Appeals ruled that fugitive Choksi, the main accused successful a ₹13,000 crore PNB scam, faces "no risk" of being denied a just proceedings oregon subjected to ill-treatment if helium is extradited to India.
Of the full scam amount, Choksi unsocial has siphoned disconnected ₹6,400 crore, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged successful its chargesheet.
Choksi, who escaped to Antigua and Barbuda successful January 2018, days earlier the scam was detected, was spotted successful Belgium, wherever helium had purportedly reached for seeking treatment.
India sent an extradition petition to Belgium connected August 27, 2024, based connected apprehension warrants issued by the peculiar tribunal successful Mumbai.
The nationalist authoritative astatine the Court of First Instance successful Antwerp, Division Turnhout, initiated an enactment connected November 25, 2024, seeking the enforcement of apprehension warrants issued by the Mumbai court.
The pre-trial enclosure of the Antwerp District Court, Turnhout Division, successful its bid dated November 29, 2024, declared that the apprehension warrants against Choksi issued by the Mumbai tribunal were enforceable, but for the bid related to "causing the disappearance of grounds of the crime".
When Choksi appealed against this verdict successful the Antwerp Court of Appeals it besides rejected his claims that helium personally faces a real, contiguous and superior hazard of being subjected to flagrant denial of justice, torture oregon inhuman and degrading attraction successful India.
India has fixed a fig of assurances to Belgium regarding Choksi's safety, the charges that helium would look during proceedings successful India, situation arrangements, quality rights and aesculapian needs.
The Court of Appeals had ruled that 66-year-old Choksi faces "no risk" of being denied a just proceedings oregon subjected to ill-treatment if helium is extradited to India.
Dismissing the entreaty filed by Choksi against the territory court, the Court of Appeals held that the businessman failed to supply "concretely plausible" grounds of a "genuine risk" of torture oregon denial of justice.
The bid was a beardown validation of India's lawsuit seeking his extradition, with Choksi having the enactment of appealing against the determination successful Belgium's Supreme Court, the officials said.
The Court of Appeals has held that the documents Choksi submitted bash not substantiate his claims that helium is the taxable of a governmental trial.
