Following the arrest of Indian businessman Mehul Choksi by the law enforcement authorities in Belgium, his lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, stated that Choksi's "human rights" will be "greatly affected" if he is extradited back to the country.
During a press conference on Monday, Aggarwal stated that the defence team would challenge the extradition on two primary grounds: the political nature of the case and concerns about the proper treatment for Choksi's health condition in India.
"His human rights will be greatly affected," Aggarwal said when asked if Choksi would not get any proper treatment and would be harassed by political parties after he is extradited back to India."That's a procedure. Basically, we will be defending it on two grounds. It is a political case and, secondly, because of the human condition in India," Aggarwal added.
He further claimed that Choksi had not been declared a fugitive because he had remained cooperative with Indian probing agencies. He further added that a case on this matter has been going in for years.
"We have always maintained in the entire court that he is ready to join, but because of his medical condition, he cannot travel. That is why we initially maintained that the Indian agency can investigate, and he will join on VC (video conference). That is why, to date, everyone has been declared a fugitive, but Mehul Choksi is not a fugitive... Our case has been going on for years now," Aggarwal said.
He added that several applications had been filed requesting virtual cooperation with the investigation due to Choksi's health concerns.
"He did not come to India because of health reasons; he is ready to join the investigation anytime. On VC, they can ask him anything; he is ready to join. Number of times we have moved applications here; that is why he has not been cleared yet," Aggarwal said. -- ANI