Public notice issued against Mehul Choksi, two others

Mehul Choksi

The special court on Friday issued public notices against fugitive jeweller Mehul Chinubhai Choksi and two others, asking them to appear before it on or before September 26, or face action as per fugitive economic offenders' ordinance. The notices have been issued against Choksi, his son Rohan Parth, and close aide Sunil Varma. The notices which were published, have been issued by special judge MS Azmi.

Earlier the court had issued summons to Nirav Modi and (his uncle) Choksi, asking them to appear before it on September 25 and 26 respectively, or else they would be declared fugitive economic offenders and their property would be confiscated.

As per the ED probe, assets of Modi and Choksi are estimated to be worth over Rs 3,000-crore and they have moved an application seeking permission to seize them. The properties are also in the UK and UAE. ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Modi, Choksi and others in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case based on the First Information Report (FIR) by the CBI.

Choksi had said he feared for his life from various people including mob lynching, criminals, and torture because of which he said there are 'constraints' in returning to India in an application filed on July 23 when he had asked for cancellation of the warrant against him. Choksi is currently in Antigua and efforts are on to get him back to India, a senior official said, adding the notice issued was part of the process to ensure he is given time to come before legal action is initiated against him.

Also Read: Police Order Inquiry Into Issuance Of Police Verification Report To Mehul Choksi

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