MEHUL CHOKSI IS SUING GOI IN THE UK TO DELAY EXTRADITION

NEW DELHI In what is being seen as a last act of a well thoughtout elaborate plan, spread across more than four years since he was allegedly abducted, fugitive criminal and one of India's most wanted, Mehul Choksi, is suing the Government of India and five other individuals in the United Kingdom seeking a damage of Rs 3.60 crore for what he will allege was mental, physical, and psychological trauma caused due to Government of India's action.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

This development is unlikely to come as positive news for the UK's Keir Starmer administration and the ongoing Free Trade Agreement talks between the two countries. Choksi on 9 September filed a lawsuit against the Indian government through the Ministry of External Affairs.

AIMING TO DELAY EXTRADITION

The filing of Choki's suit is likely intended to delay his extradition to India by invoking the UK courts and unleashing a media blitzkrieg in his favour by using psychiatric evaluation reports, backed by a well-funded PR campaign and bringing in lawyers and law firms who have a track record of first delaying and then completely denying the extradition of their clients.

One of the possible reasons behind his strategy to use the UK court as a forum is Choksi's belief that the UK political and administrative system will easily grant him asylum in the near future.

This is despite the fact that the incident he is relying on to escape his extradition― "an alleged kidnapping plot executed by Indian intelligence agencies"-happened not in the UK but in Antigua and Barbuda.

Choksi is currently based in Antwerp, Belgium, and receiving treatment at ZNA (Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen), a public hospital network in Belgium for multiple ailments that he has been suffering for a long time now.

Choksi, the youngest of six siblings, has a brother in Belgium. His brotherin-law, Hani, remarried sister's death and is also settled in Belgium.

His brother, Chetan Chinu Bhai Choksi, also resides in Antwerp. India has a long standing extradition treaty with both the UK and Belgium.

LEGAL PROCESS IN UK: A LONG ROAD AHEAD

On 9 September, Choksi's counsel, led by the London-based law firm Simon Muirhead & Burton, along with its associates David Edward Phillips and counsels Edward Fitzgerald and Graeme Hall, submitted the "Particulars of Claim" to the High Court, King's Bench Division.