MEA Justifies Police Clearance To Mehul Choksi  

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said the police clearance certificate (PCC) issued to Mehul Choksi -- wanted in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank fraud and who has now taken citizenship in Antigua -- by the Regional Passport Office, Mumbai, "was as per extant instructions".

In response to queries after the Antiguan government said that citizenship was granted to Choksi in the Caribbean nation after it received a PCC from the Mumbai passport office, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the PCC was issued on the basis of a clear police verification report (PVR) available on his passport.

"All passport issuing authorities can issue a PCC if there is a clear PVR in the system," Kumar said.

"In case there is no PVR, then a fresh PVR is obtained prior to issuance of a PCC," he stated.

"As the PVR of Mehul Choksi was clear in the system at the time of issuance of PCC, the process followed by the Passport Office, Mumbai, was as per extant instructions."

Kumar also said that the PCC was issued to Choksi for Antigua and Barbuda in March 2017.

The Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Antigua and Barbuda, in a detailed statement said the Antiguan citizenship authority received the businessman's application in May 2017 with necessary documentary requirements, including a PCC.

"The said PCC from the government of India, Ministry of External Affairs' Regional Passport Office, Mumbai, certified that there was no adverse information against Mehul Chinubbhai Choksi which would render him ineligible for grant of travel facilities including visa for Antigua and Barbuda," the CIU statement said.

Meanwhile, sources here said that the External Affairs Ministry has received an extradition request from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and is currently in the process of conveying it to the authorities in Antigua and Barbuda.

CBI Seeks Extradition Of Choksi From Antigua

The extradition request for fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, who has secured an Atiguan passport and is living there, will soon be sent to the Caribbean country, the CBI said on Friday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Rs 13,500-crore banking fraud allegedly committed by the jeweller and his nephew Nirav Modi, said that its letter to get Choksi deported has been forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The CBI sent on Monday the letter to the Union Home Ministry which in turn forwarded it to the MEA, an official said.

In its request to the Home Ministry, the CBI said Choksi's extradition was being sought "on grounds of principle of reciprocity and dual criminality".

A source revealed that the MEA has received the extradition request from the CBI and is currently in the process of conveying it to the authorities in Antigua and Barbuda.

India and Antigua are signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) -- a multilateral treaty negotiated by the member-states of the United Nations and promoted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the CBI pointed out in its request.

Choksi is said to have fled India on an Indian passport in the first week of January 2018. The Antiguan government is believed to have cleared his application for citizenship in November 2017, for which he may have paid around Rs 1.3 crore.

He took the oath of allegiance as a citizen of Antigua on January 15. Days later, on January 29, the CBI filed a case and started investigating Choksi and Nirav Modi.

IANS