Left India For Medical Check-Up And Treatment, Not To Avoid Prosecution In PNB Scam: Mehul Choksi Tells Bombay HC

Diamantaire Mehul Choksi on Monday (17 June) told the Bombay High Court that he left India for medical check-up and treatment abroad and not to avoid any prosecution in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, which came to light in early 2018, reports Times of India.

Choksi, who is currently living in the Carribean nation of Antigua, filed an affidavit in the Bombay HC through his advocate Vijay Aggarwal stating that he left India for medical treatment in January 2018.

"I have not left the country under suspicious circumstances," the affidavit said. Choksi also stressed that he was unable to return to India due to persisting health problems.

Choksi had filed the affidavit in connection with his two petitions in the HC seeking dismissal of a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a special court for declaring him a fugitive economic offender.

Both, Choksi and his cousin Nirav Modi, are absconding from India and are wanted by the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for defrauding the PNB to the tune of Rs 13,400 crore.