The ED filed its application in July 2018, aiming to confiscate his properties. However, the plea has been pending in a Mumbai court for nearly seven years due to repeated delays caused by Choksi’s legal challenges.“The court is kept busy with frivolous applications, and hearing on our application to declare him (Choksi) an FEO has been adjourned for the past seven years,” an ED officer had said in February after another deferral.“The court should have continued the hearing and taken a decision on the future course of action once the application was moved,” the officer added, urging the court not to entertain repetitive pleas.Choksi’s counsel has argued that the ED did not follow due process while filing its plea and that his client cannot return due to his Indian passport being suspended. They also claimed that the ED kept changing its grounds for declaring him an FEO. However, the Bombay High Court dismissed this argument in September 2023, stating that the ED had followed proper procedure and vacated the stay on proceedings.Despite this, the special court has been unable to move ahead with the FEO declaration. While most of these pleas have been dismissed, a few remain pending.In December 2023, his plea to recall the notice on the ED’s FEO application was also rejected. The court ruled that the notice was based on accurate information and not on “wrong facts or mistaken assumptions”.Under the FEO Act, an individual can be declared a Fugitive Economic Offender if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving Rs 100 crore or more and he has left India while refusing to return.Once declared an FEO, the person’s property can be confiscated by the investigating agency.Nirav Modi has already been declared as an FEO by the special court. He has been lodged in jail in London since 2019.The action against the second “prime suspect” in this case, after Nirav Modi, was taken on Saturday based on an extradition request moved by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), official sources said.Choksi’s arrest comes after India renewed efforts to bring him back. Official sources said Saturday’s action followed a request from both the CBI and the ED, targeting the second “prime suspect” in the case after Nirav Modi.(With inputs from PTI)
Source link
