PNB scam: Belgium top court endorses lower court view; no risk of denial of justice to Choksi in India

Belgium’s highest court – the Supreme Court – rejected fugitive diamond master Mehul Choksi’s appeal against India’s extradition request and upheld a lower court’s view that there was no justification for his allegations of blatant denial of justice, torture or inhuman and degrading treatment in India, according to the judgment published on Wednesday, December 17, 2025.

Imposing costs on Choksi in the amount of EUR 104, the court upheld the opinion of the Claims Chamber of the Antwerp Court of Appeal, which observed that the documents submitted by Choksi were insufficient to make it concretely plausible that Choksi faced a real, present and serious risk of being subjected to a flagrant denial of justice or torture or inhuman and degrading treatment in the requesting State.

The Supreme Court does not reexamine the facts or decide whether extradition is fair or wise. Its duty is limited to checking whether the law is correctly applied and whether the rules of procedure and the duties of judgment are complied with.

If lower courts apply the correct legal standards and provide reasons, the Appeals should dismiss the appeal, even if the outcome is moot, officials said.

The decision reached by the Supreme Court PTI Choksi appears to have based his arguments against the Indictment Chamber’s opinion on the allegations of an attempted smuggling attempt from Antigua, the Interpol Commission for Control of Files (CCF)’s view of the alleged incident, media coverage and the possibility of not receiving a fair trial due to violation of the presumption of innocence in India.

CCF had removed Choksi’s name from the Interpol Red Notice list in November 2022 following his objection. The CCF is a separate Interpol body “not under the control” of the Interpol Secretariat and is staffed mostly by lawyers drawn from different countries, where people can appeal decisions to declare themselves fugitives.

Choksi’s claim that the prosecutor withheld information about the CCF findings regarding the attempted kidnapping from Antigua from the pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp district court, which upheld the Mumbai court orders, also found no support in the top court in Belgium.

The court noted that even if the person was not summoned and the Interpol CCF decision was not initially presented, the rights of the defense were still adequately protected in that they could appeal.

He said the Prosecutions Chamber had full jurisdiction on appeal, heard the case on an adversarial basis and reviewed all documents, including the CCF decision.

The top court in Belgium said that as long as the person can fully argue their case on appeal, there is no legal violation even if the first instance procedure was flawed.

The Supreme Court found no flaws in the findings of the Indictment Chamber, which upheld the lower court order dated November 29, 2024, which termed the arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai special court in May 2018 and June 2021 as “executable” and paved the way for Choksi’s extradition.

He stated that the decision of the Indictment Chamber responded to and rejected the applicant’s defense in the petition of appeal, without having to respond to every argument put forward in support of this defense and without creating a separate defense.

It also justified the decision that the grounds for refusal under paragraph 2 of Article 2a of the Extradition Act 1874 (relating to possible torture) were not legally valid, as stated in the order given in Dutch.

The court was presided over by Filip Van Volsem, Section President Erwin Francis and Judges Eric Van Dooren, Bruno Lietaert and Jos Decoker.

Choksi had fled India in the first week of January 2018, days before the 13,000-crore scam in PNB was detected.

On the request of CBI and ED, Interpol included his name in the list of most wanted fugitives called Red Notice in December 2018.

Of the 13,000-crore scam, Choksi alone siphoned off 6,400 crore, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleged in its criminal complaint.

Choksi was seen in Belgium, where he allegedly went for treatment.

India requested extradition to Belgium on August 27, 2024, based on arrest warrants issued by the special court in Mumbai.

The Turnhout Division of the Public Prosecutor of the Antwerp Court of First Instance initiated a lawsuit demanding the implementation of the arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai court on 25 November 2025.

In its decision dated 29 November 2024, the pre-trial chamber of the Antwerp Regional Court, the Turnhout Chamber, declared that the arrest warrants issued by the Mumbai court against Choksi were enforceable, except for the decision to “cause the suppression of criminal evidence”.

India has given Belgium a series of assurances regarding Choksi’s safety, the charges he will face during his trial in India, prison arrangements, human rights and medical needs.

It was published – 18 December 2025 08:11 IST