PNB Fraud Case: Submit Report On Mehul Choksi’s Health, Bombay High Court Tells JJ Hospital
Mehul Choksi is presently in Antigua and has told the Bombay high court that he is unable to travel to India due to ill health.
The Bombay high court on Monday sought a sealed report from JJ Hospital doctors on the medical condition of Gitanjali Gems Ltd. promoter Mehul Choksi, an accused in the $2 billion PNB fraud case, to determine whether he was in a position to travel.
Choksi is presently in Antigua and has told the Bombay high court that he is unable to travel to India due to ill health. He, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, are accused of perpetrating a $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank through fraudulently issued Letters of Undertaking.
The bench on Monday directed Choksi's advocate to submit all of his client's latest medical reports to the team of doctors at the JJ Hospital's cardiology department. The hospital shall on July 9 submit the sealed report to the court with its opinion on whether Choksi can travel, the bench said. The court will hear the plea on July 10.
Choksi has claimed that he left India in January 2018 to undergo a bypass surgery and not to avoid prosecution. In an affidavit filed in the high court, he said he would return to India if he is medically fit.
The Enforcement Directorate had earlier told the court that it was ready to provide an air ambulance to bring Choksi to India from Antigua.
A division bench of justices IA Mahanty and AM Badar is presently hearing a petition filed by Choksi challenging an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate seeking to declare him a fugitive economic offender.