Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 10: In a major breakthrough for Indian agencies, the Belgium Supreme Court has dismissed fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi’s plea against his extradition to India in connection with the Rs 13,850-crore Punjab National Bank scam, officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) confirmed on Tuesday.

Choksi had moved Belgium’s top court on October 30, challenging the October 17 order of the Antwerp Court of Appeals which had deemed India’s extradition request “enforceable.” With the latest ruling, that decision now stands affirmed.

The Antwerp court earlier held that Choksi faced no threat of unfair trial or ill-treatment in India and found no error in the arrest warrants issued by a Mumbai special court in 2018 and 2021.

Rejecting Choksi’s argument that he risks torture or political victimisation, the court observed that he failed to provide any credible evidence to support his claims. Indian authorities had submitted details and photographs of Arthur Road Jail, Barrack No. 12—where he will be lodged—to counter allegations of poor prison conditions.

Choksi, who fled India on January 2, 2018, was arrested in Antwerp on April 11, 2025. The court further stated that offences cited by India—including fraud, forgery and corruption—are punishable under Belgian law as well.

Indian agencies—CBI, ED, and R&AW—have been pursuing the 64-year-old businessman globally ever since he left the country. He previously claimed he was abducted from Antigua and taken to Dominica in 2021, allegations also dismissed by the court.

Choksi, owner of the Gitanjali Group, is accused of colluding with nephew Nirav Modi and PNB officials to orchestrate one of India’s biggest banking scams by fraudulently obtaining Letters of Undertaking for overseas credit.

With the Belgium Supreme Court’s ruling, legal barriers to his extradition have now been removed, bringing him one step closer to facing trial in India.