Antigua may not be a safe heaven for Mehul Choksi after all

New Delhi, July 28: Mehul Choksi, an accused in the PNB scam may have obtained an Antiguan citizenship, but that sure would not give him the immunity from extradition that he is looking for. Although India does not have an extradition treaty with Antigua, it still would not stand in the way of bringing back Choksi.

E P Chet Greene, minister of foreign affairs and immigration said that he was not aware that the government of Antigua and Barbuda had received any requests from any Indian government or law enforcement body for cooperation or extradition regarding Choksi, according to a report in the Antigua Observer.

He however added that if a request is received, the same shall be honoured. We will honour any legitimate request notwithstanding that we do not have any extradition agreements with India. That is the extent of our commitment to preserving the integrity of our programme," Greene said.

The comments were made a post Cabinet press conference. Members of opposition parties have questioned how thorough the vetting process could have been in 2017 if Choksi and his company, the Gitanjali Group were not long after, named as suspects in a massive fraud investigation.