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DNA Special: Will India get fugitive Mehul Choksi back?

Fugitive Mehul Choksi is currently in the Caribbean country of Dominica.

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The first pictures of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi were released by a local media outlet on Saturday (May 29). In the three photographs released by Antigua News Room, Choksi was seen with swollen eyes and bruises on his arms.

A private jet from India, which currently stands at Dominica's Douglas-Charles airport, flew from Delhi Airport on May 28 with documents related to Mehul Choksi and has been parked in Dominica since then. The important thing is that the one-hour fare of this private jet is Rs 8,40,000.

Now the question is, will Mehul Choksi return home with this private jet?

Mehul Choksi is currently in the Caribbean country of Dominica. On June 2, there will be a hearing in the court there -- whether Mehul Choksi will be handed over to India or will he be handed over to Antigua and Barbuda?

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has said that he has urged the government of Dominica to send Mehul Choksi to India. But is this possible?

Mehul Choksi is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda. He got citizenship of this country in the year 2017. And in the year 2018, when the PNB bank scam of Rs 13 thousand crore was exposed in India, the main accused of this scam, Mehul Choksi had fled from India to Antigua in the first week of January.

But now, he is not in this country. And this is the reason why Indian investigative agencies hope to extradite him.

Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica are both Caribbean countries. And the Caribbean region is located between the continents of North America and South America. Now, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda says that Mehul Choksi suddenly disappeared from his country a few days ago. There are reports that he, along with his girlfriend, moved from Antigua to Dominica from a Yacht.

He did not have a passport and had entered Dominica illegally, so he was arrested. And when Antigua got this news, the Prime Minister there requested Dominica to hand over Mehul Choksi to India. And this is the reason why private jet of Qatar Airways from India reached Dominica with documents related to it.

There are reports that Choksi went to Dominica to have dinner with his girlfriend as these two countries are not far away. But during this time, he was caught by the CID in Dominica.

The thing to understand now is whether Dominica will hand over Mehul Choksi to India? There are reports in their local newspapers that this can happen.

Dominica may hand over Mehul Choksi to India because Choksi is a citizen of India before Antigua. However, India has no extradition treaty with Dominica.

At present, India has extradition treaties with 47 countries all over the world. Apart from this, there is an extradition arrangement with 11 countries. India is tied in this arrangement with Antigua and Barbuda. However, extradition treaties and arrangements vary considerably.

The country with which there is an extradition treaty - it is committed to the extradition of the citizen to another country, whereas in the extradition arrangement - that country can help but does not ensure extradition.

And in this case, India has neither an extradition treaty nor an extradition arrangement with Dominica. But still, it is expected that in view of Indian citizenship and criminal case against Mehul Choksi, the court of Dominica will hand him over to Indian investigative agencies.

There is a lot of politics going on in Antigua over the extradition of Mehul Choksi. UPP i.e. United Progressive Party is the major opposition party of Antigua. Jamale Pringle, a prominent leader of this party, allegedly had a meeting with Mehul Choksi's family a few days back. And it is alleged that in the meeting, the party had also entered into an agreement with Mehul Choksi for political funding. Not only this, after the agreement, the party also protested against the government in the parliament in favor of Mehul Choksi.

It is also said that a large team of Mehul Choksi was working in both Antigua and Dominica countries. The task of this team was to gather political support to save him from extradition. 

There are allegations that he has a good hold in the government and influence in the opposition parties too. Apart from this, there are also claims of political funding and huge investments in these countries.

Not only this, but Mehul Choksi is also looking at his possibilities in Cuba and was also trying to escape there.

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