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In response to queries sent by PTI, the public prosecutor at the appeal court in Antwerp said Choksi filed an appeal in the cassation court on October 30.
Ken Vitpas said, “This appeal is strictly limited to legal merits and will be decided by the Court of Cassation. During this process, the execution of extradition is suspended.”
The Court of Cassation is the highest court of Belgium.
On October 17, the four-member prosecution chamber of the Court of Appeal in Antwerp found no flaws in the orders issued by the pre-trial chamber of the district court on November 29, 2024, and declared the arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai special court in May 2018 and June 2021 as “enforceable”, allowing Choksi’s extradition.
The appeal court ruled that fugitive Choksi, the key accused in the ₹13,000 crore PNB scam, faces “no risk” of being deprived of a fair trial or ill-treated if extradited to India.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its charge sheet has alleged that out of the ₹13,000 crore scam, Choksi alone has embezzled ₹6,400 crore.
Choksi, who fled to Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018 days before the scam was unearthed, was spotted in Belgium, where he had reportedly arrived for treatment.
India sent the extradition request to Belgium on August 27, 2024, based on the arrest warrant issued by the special court in Mumbai.
The public prosecutor of the Court of First Instance in Antwerp, Division Turnhout initiated an action on November 25, 2024, seeking to enforce the arrest warrant issued by the Mumbai court.
The Pre-Trial Chamber of the Antwerp District Court, Turnhout Division, in its order dated November 29, 2024, declared that the arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai court against Choksi were enforceable, except for the order relating to “disappearance of evidence of crime”.
India has given several assurances to Belgium regarding Choksi’s security, charges against him during his trial in India, prison system, human rights and medical needs.