Mehul Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are prime accused in the multi-crore scam being probed by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED. File
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In a setback to absconding diamond trader Mehul Choksi, a prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, a special court in Mumbai on Friday (November 28, 2025) rejected his application seeking to drop the proceedings declaring him a fugitive economic offender (FEO).
Following his arrest in Belgium in April this year, Mr. Choksi had moved the plea before the special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to dismiss the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) application to declare him an FEO.
Mr. Choksi had pleaded that since he was currently in custody for cases pending in India, for which an extradition request was made by the Indian authorities in Belgium, the application filed by the ED to declare him an FEO deserved to be dismissed.
The ED had opposed his plea saying the 66-year-old did not want to return to India as he was fighting extradition proceedings initiated against him in Belgium.
The probe agency argued that the FEO proceedings terminate only when an absconding accused appears. It said that there were no merits in the application and it deserved to be dismissed.
Also read: Extradition saga: no reprieve for Mehul Choksi from Belgian court
Under the FEO Act, a person can be declared an FEO if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving an amount of ₹100 crore or more and he has left the country and refuses to return. Once the accused is declared an FEO, the probe agency can confiscate his property.
On October 17, a Belgium court upheld India’s request for extradition of the diamond trader. He, however, challenged the order in the country’s Supreme Court.
Mr. Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are prime accused in the multi-crore scam being probed by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED.
They are accused of allegedly siphoning off over ₹13,000 crore of public money from the PNB. While Mr. Choksi is facing the extradition proceedings, Mr. Modi is lodged in a London jail.
Published – November 28, 2025 11:57 pm IST
