Mehul Choksi attending a court hearing in Dominica in 2021
| Photo Credit: Clyde Jno Baptiste
A Belgian court’s ruling in the extradition proceedings concerning Mehul Choksi, a prime accused in the Punjab National Bank scam, is an important development in India’s efforts to bring him back to face trial. Mr. Choksi, who had fled India in 2018, has been the target of attempts by authorities to get him extradited since.
Mr. Choksi is detained in Belgium on India’s request. On Wednesday, a Belgium court concluded that the documents provided by him were insufficient to demonstrate a risk of ill-treatment upon extradition to India. It also rejected his plea of possible mistreatment in Indian prisons, observing that India has given multiple assurances to Belgium regarding his safety and prison arrangements.
If the extradition is successful, Mr. Choksi will join a long list of economic offenders who account for more than a third of all those extradited to India from all over the world over two decades.
The case involving Mr. Choksi is not the only instance where India seems to be gaining an edge this year. Last month, a delegation from the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service visited Tihar jail to assess prison conditions. This was aimed at facilitating the extradition of persons accused of economic crimes from the U.K. to India, such as Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.
Extradition requests are initiated for cases under investigation, under trial, or for convicted criminals. India has signed extradition treaties with 48 countries/territories and has extradition arrangements with 12 countries.
Information obtained by The Hindu using the Right to Information shows that India has been stepping up efforts to secure the extradition of fugitives from foreign countries to face trial here. In the last five years, India has made 133 extradition requests. In 2024 alone, it made 39 requests — the highest in the 2020-2024 period.
The chart below shows the Extradition requests made by India
RTI data also reveal that India received 79 requests from foreign countries seeking the extradition of fugitives, between 2020 and 2024.
The chart below shows the Extradition requests received by India
An analysis of persons extradited or deported by foreign governments to India since 2002 shows that 35% of them were sent back for economic offences such as financial fraud, cheating, and forgery. Christian Michel James was extradited from the UAE for economic offences in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal bribery case.
People accused of participating in terrorist activities, for offences such as terror financing, and for ‘waging war against India’ accounted for 27.5% of all cases. This year, Tahawwur Rana, accused of being a key conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was extradited from the U.S to India.
Those accused of crimes such as murder or attempt to murder accounted for 21.3% of all extraditions. Other offences listed by the External Affairs Ministry include drugs and sexual offences.
The chart below shows the offence-wise split of people extradited to India in the 2002-2018 and the 2024-25 periods.
A country-wise analysis shows that India has secured the extradition of people from at least 26 countries in the 2002-2018 and the 2024-25 periods. The UAE and the U.S. accounted for 46% of all such cases together, with at least 25 and 12 fugitives extradited from these countries in the periods, respectively.
The chart below shows the country-wise split of persons extradited to India between the 2002-2018 and the 2024-2025 periods
These conclusions are based on data sourced through RTI requests for the 2020-2024 period and supplemented by data from Parliament Q&A for the 2002-2018 period. Data for particular offences and source countries could not be ascertained for the 2019-2023 period.
Published – October 28, 2025 07:00 am IST
