Mehul Choksi may return to India in 3 months if medically fit: Lawyer

New Delhi, Nov 17: Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamantaire accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud, may return to India in three months "if his condition gets better", his lawyer said.

The lawyer told a Mumbai court on Saturday that Mehul Choksi is not in a position to record his statement, news agency ANI reported.

Sanjay Abbot, Choksi's counsel, told the court, "Presently he is not medically fit to travel. So his statement can either be recorded through video conferencing or ED officers can go to Antigua and record his statement or wait for three months if his conditions improve, he will come back to record his statement."

The Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court was hearing the Enforcement Directorate's request to declare him a "fugitive" under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Efforts are on to extradite Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi to India.

Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others are being probed under various criminal laws after the fraud came to light this year following a complaint by the Punjab National Bank (PNB) that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.

The Enforcement Directorate had sought to declare Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi "fugitive economic offenders" and clearance to confiscate their assets worth Rs. 3,500 crore.

The businessman was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda last year and he took the oath of allegiance to that country on January 15.