First look of Mehul Choksi's high-security prison cell in Mumbai

India Today

India Today has accessed the photos, which the government has submitted to the Belgian authorities, where fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi will be kept once he is extradited. He will be kept at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, specifically Barrack No. 12.

Transcript

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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