File photo of Antigua and Barbuda businessman Mehul Choksi. | Photo credit: AP
An appellate court in Antwerp, Belgium on Friday (17 Oct 2025) issued a preliminary ruling dismissing fugitive Mehul Choksi’s appeal against extradition in connection with the Punjab National Bank fraud case being pursued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), agency sources said.
Calling it India’s first success in the ongoing extradition proceedings against Mr. Choksi in Belgium, a CBI source said he may now appeal the order to the Belgian Supreme Court in the next 15 days.
Watch: Belgian court approves extradition of fugitive jeweler Mehul Choksi
Mr. Choksi was provisionally arrested on April 11, 2025 in Antwerp on an extradition request by the CBI and has been lodged in a prison there since then. His numerous bail applications have also been rejected after being effectively challenged since April this year, the source said.
The CBI has charged Mr Choksi and others in an alleged ₹6,400 crore bank fraud case.
He is being investigated along with his nephew Nirav Modi in cases involving about Rs 13,578 crore. Mr. Nirav Modi was arrested in the United Kingdom at the request of India and has been in jail there since 2019, appealing against the court’s permission to extradite him.
The CBI has been trying to get Mr Choksi extradited to India since 2018 after he left the country.
Mr. Choksi is currently an Antiguan citizen. He secured a Belgian residence permit in November 2023 as his wife is a Belgian citizen. In an application filed in a special court in Mumbai in February, he provided medical documents stating that he was suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (cancer of the blood) and was unable to travel.
In 2021, a court in Dominica rejected the CBI’s request for his extradition after he claimed he was kidnapped and beaten by “henchmen” working for the Indian government. Based on the CBI cases, the Enforcement Directorate also conducted investigations into the money laundering angle and seized assets worth hundreds of crores in India and abroad, including the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Japan.
The accused persons fled the country along with their family members in January 2018, days before the CBI registered its first case. As it later emerged, Mr. Choksi secured Antiguan citizenship in November 2017.
Published – 17 Oct 2025 21:05 IST
