00:00For the first time on television, Mehul Chokhsi's prison cell.
00:05Mumbai's maximum security jail is ready for Mehul Chokhsi.
00:09The first look shows the new home for Chokhsi in India.
00:14These are pictures from inside the special high security cell number 12.
00:19A 24-7 CCTV cell that also housed Ajmal Kassab.
00:23It's payback time for the 13,000 crore bank loot as India prepares for Chokhsi to come back.
00:34Remember, India has been trying to get Mehul Chokhsi extradited back to the country.
00:40He's currently under the custody of the Belgian authorities.
00:44And these are the pictures that India has submitted as part of its academic to the Belgian authorities
00:51to show that he will not in fact be in any inhuman or bad conditions in the jail in Mumbai.
01:01Nalini Sharma is joining me on this story.
01:03Nalini, India has given its response to the Belgian authorities as Mehul Chokhsi has been claiming
01:09that he will be treated badly, that his rights will be affected if he's sent back to jail in India.
01:15What more do we know?
01:16Well, Anisha, it's important to remember that this is coming at a time when the Belgian court of appeals
01:23has already issued its order saying that the arguments that were made by Mehul Chokhsi
01:27against his extradition, there is no relevance in them and they were found without merit.
01:32And it was part of this process that we know that the Indian authorities also submitted these pictures
01:36to the Belgian authorities basically to counter the claim that was being made by Mehul Chokhsi
01:42that he is going to be living in inhuman conditions and that the jail in India is not going to be safe for him.
01:48It's not also going to be up to the mark.
01:50So these are the pictures that have been submitted to the Belgian authorities
01:53to ensure that these arguments that are being made by Mehul Chokhsi's legal team
01:58can be effectively countered, which is why this cell number 12 from Arthur Road Jail
02:03has the pictures of which have now been submitted to the Belgian authorities.
02:06Remember, Mehul Chokhsi still has the option of appealing against the court of appeals decision
02:12before a higher court in Belgium, most likely the Supreme Court of Belgium.
02:16But that has to be done within 15 days and as to whether or not his team is going to go that legal route
02:20is something that we are still watching and waiting for a confirmation on.
02:24But at the same time, Indian authorities are ensuring that they leave no stone unturned
02:28when it comes to the extradition of Mehul Chokhsi
02:31and trying to bring him back from Belgium after his arrest on the request of the CBI.
02:36Anisha.
02:37Well, Nalini, we've seen the order that has come out from the Unperp Court
02:40where they said that this is not a political case against him.
02:45It is not a non-extraditable offense.
02:48They've basically rejected a lot of his claims regarding political bias.
02:53What more do we know about the case that is going on in the Belgian court?
02:57Well, there were three, four points on the basis of which Mehul Chokhsi
03:01had essentially filed this application before the Belgian court
03:04where he had made several assertions.
03:06One, like you correctly pointed out, he stated that there were political motives
03:10behind this case and the reason for why he was being extradited back to India.
03:15Now, the government of India wanted to send across a political message
03:17by bringing him back.
03:19But along with that, he had also argued that there is a violation to his right to a fair trial,
03:24that the conditions in Indian jails are not going to be all right
03:28or not going to be opportune for him to be held there.
03:31And most importantly, he had argued that they cannot extradite him
03:35without the offenses in the extradition actually being proved to be internationally liable.
03:40So, on all of those points, the Belgian court of appeals has said
03:43that these are not relevant when it comes to deciding
03:46as to whether or not Mehul Chokhsi should be extradited.
03:49None of these arguments actually hold any water or merit
03:52before the court of appeals, but like we correctly stated earlier as well,
03:56Mehul Chokhsi has the option of appealing against this decision
04:00before the Supreme Court of Belgium.
04:02So, it remains to be seen whether or not they do that
04:04because in case that happens, then of course the extradition proceedings
04:08may take a little longer and it might take a little bit more time
04:11to get Mehul Chokhsi back.
04:13But Indian authorities led by the CBI
04:15and including the Indian government and the agencies
04:17are ensuring that all the documents are in place,
04:20all the evidence has been submitted to the Belgian authorities
04:23so that any kind of legal loophole that is being tried to be exploited
04:27by Mehul Chokhsi's legal team has not been allowed to do so
04:30and most importantly that these entire proceedings
04:32can close as soon as possible
04:34so we can see that the fugitive has been brought back to India.
04:37All right. Nalini, we've seen the entire case play out
04:41over the last several years really
04:43as Mehul Chokhsi first fled to Antigua,
04:46then he was brought back,
04:47then he's been in the custody of the Belgian authorities
04:50since April this year.
04:52And can you take us through what are the legal options available to him now
04:56and what exactly do we know from our sources
05:00what the Indian government is doing to speed up this process?
05:03Well, without a doubt, Mehul Chokhsi has been trying every trick in the book
05:08to try and ensure that his extradition proceedings do not go through.
05:12Even after he was arrested in Belgium,
05:14even after that, he'd filed not one but multiple applications
05:18before the Court of Appeals in Belgium
05:20trying to either get a stay on his entire extradition proceeding
05:24or challenge it on one particular legal way.
05:28So, all of those applications we've seen,
05:30the proceedings of which have also been going on
05:32before the Court of Appeals in Belgium.
05:34But till now, there has been no relief that has come in for Mehul Chokhsi.
05:38Of course, it's not necessary that his legal team
05:41may be aiming for a relief particularly.
05:43Even just filing these applications allows them
05:46some extra time to develop a further legal strategy
05:49to decide what needs to be done
05:51because while these applications are pending,
05:53of course, his extradition cannot go through.
05:55So, it's extremely crucial for this entire extradition case
05:58that has been going on in Belgium
06:00to close as soon as possible
06:02so that the extradition can take place first of all.
06:06Talking about his legal options that are available to him,
06:09like we pointed out earlier,
06:11that although this order has come from the Court of Appeals,
06:13he has the right to challenge it.
06:15We're not yet sure whether or not he's going to do it.
06:17But considering how we've seen the case pan out
06:20in the past few months,
06:21it is expected that he might go ahead and challenge this order.
06:24Alright, thank you very much for that, Nalini.
06:25India is waiting to get the fugitive diamond heir
06:29back to face trial
06:31and face, give payback
06:33for the thousands of crores
06:35that he had taken away from Indian banks.
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