New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi being held in police custody in Dominica, is fit to be deported to India according to former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director AP Singh, who said the businessman held no legal rights in the East Caribbean Island nation to which he had attempted to allegedly escape from neighbouring Antigua, where he had been living since 2018.
The former CBI director Singh told ANI: “It is possible for Dominica to deport Mehul Choksi to India as he has no legal rights in Dominica. But he alleged before the court that he was kidnapped and brought to a third country (Dominica) against his will. Now the court will decide his deportation.
He further stressed that deportation is an easier process than extradition.
“If a criminal or a wanted fugitive is living in a country where they have legal status as a citizen, only an extradition process is left… For deportation, if someone enters a third country illegally and is caught, the country concerned must deport to India. The CBI has many deportation experiences under Interpol’s Red Corner notices,” the ex-CBI director told.
Singh said it was not necessary to enter into a treaty with a country for deportation or extradition of criminals/fugitives, stating that there has been many deportations from a third-party country based on Interpol’s Red Corner notices.
Interpol had issued the Red Notice against Choksi in December 2018. According to Choksi’s lawyers, the jeweller had not fled Antigua but was forcibly abducted and allegedly beaten up and taken to Dominica.
According to former CBI director Singh, “If the Dominica court finds that Choksi was kidnapped and forcibly taken to Dominica, he would be deported to Antigua as his country of origin.”
