homeworld News'Mehul Choksi not a fugitive', says his lawyer; ex CBI officials say red notice not necessary for extradition
'Mehul Choksi not a fugitive', says his lawyer; ex-CBI officials say red notice not necessary for extradition
Pointing out that legal proceedings to declare Mehul Choksi as fugitive have been stayed, Aggarwal claimed that the Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Mehul Choksi was revoked as the report of his attempted kidnapping, established by an Antiguan police report, was held in bad taste by the international community.
Representing Mehul Choksi in Indian courts, Advocate Vijay Aggarwal has taken exception to statements by various opposition leaders in media, reiterating that Mehul Choksi has not been declared a fugitive like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.
Pointing out that legal proceedings to declare Mehul Choksi as fugitive have been stayed, Aggarwal claimed that the Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Mehul Choksi was revoked as the report of his attempted kidnapping, established by an Antiguan police report, was held in bad taste by the international community.
Speaking to CNBC TV18, Aggarwal said that Choksi couldn't have been rendered homeless as he couldn't come to India and claimed that he wasn't being allowed to live in peace in Antigua despite holding a valid citizenship. With the RCN against Choksi no longer in place, Aggarwal said that his client was now free to travel anywhere in the world without being stopped at the immigration gates.
He added Mehul Choksi has offered to appear in Indian courts via videoconferencing because of his ill health as he hasn't been permitted air travel due to medical reasons. Pointing to an order by a Dominican court directing for Choksi's medical treatment during his stay in Antigua, Aggarwal said that a 24-hour long flight or air ambulance from Antigua to India may risk Choksi's health.
While he claimed that it isn't possible for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to seek a fresh RCN since the because previous RCN was revoked in consideration of the developments which took place, CBI has maintained that Interpol's RCN is neither a prerequisite nor a requirement for extradition proceedings.
India's extradition request continues to remain under active consideration before the Antiguan authorities, unimpacted by any RCN-related communications with Interpol.
In July 2022, Choksi had approached Interpol's Commission for Control of Files (CCF) seeking removal of the RCN against him. CBI has claimed that a 5-member CCF chamber had deleted the RCN based on mere imaginary conjunctures and unproven surmises.
CBI has taken up issues of procedural violations, overreach of mandate and mistakes by the CCF and is exercising available remedial and appellate options within the Interpol while it seeks to restore the RCN.
A former top official with the CBI also said that the revocation of the RCN doesn't change the ground situation much, as RCNs are only used to locate the country where an individual is present in, which in this case is Antigua and Barbuda.
He stressed that mere existence of RCNs doesn't ensure the extradition of an accused, as has been observed in numerous cases like Dawood Ibrahim and Nirav Modi, since extradition is a bilateral process between 2 countries.
However, he added that India can make a fresh request before the Interpol to issue a RCN, but will have to add reasons not stated earlier to make a convincing case.
CBI's ex-Joint Director, Shantonu Sen told CNBC TV18 that withdrawal of the RCN doesn't stop India from pursuing extradition proceedings against Mehul Choksi in Antigua and Barbuda. He said that an RCN only ensures that Interpol's member nations assist each other and ensure that an accused or a criminal doesn't escape the nation he/she is in.
He said that any fresh request for an RCN before the Interpol will be examined on the yardstick of "duality", which means that the alleged act committed by the individual should be a crime in the nation of origin as well as the one currently hosting the individual.
A majority of RCNs are only restricted to the use of law enforcement. Interpol's website describes a red notice as a "request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action", making it clear that it "is not an international arrest warrant".
Interpol member countries apply their own laws to decide whether a person has to be arrested, who has been "declared as wanted by the requesting member country, or international tribunal".
First Published: Mar 21, 2023 3:52 PM IST
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