Wanted in PNB scam, Mehul Choksi tells CBI that it's impossible to return to India

Fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, co-accused in the Rs 12,700 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, has written to the CBI that he cannot return to India, citing his suspended passport among the reasons.

In a letter to the probe agency, Choksi said the way his passport was suspended violated his “constitutional rights” and that the ongoing “trial by media” and politicisation of the issue by some to “glorify their own interests” have left him “remediless”.

The Gitanjali Group chairman also cited “persisting health problem” that he said stopped him from travelling. He said he was suffering “extreme mental agony” and had to undergo a “cardiac procedure” in the first week of February. There is still work pending to be done on that, he wrote.


Choksi is the uncle of diamond merchant Nirav Modi, the main accused in the PNB scam. He wrote the letter in response to the CBI’s notice that he join the probe.

Choksi said he was surprised when he received an email from the passport office saying his passport had been suspended due to “security threat to India”. Saying that he is “in no manner dictating the terms” of his appearance, Choksi said no explanation had been offered to him as to how was he a security threat to the country.

Investigators, including the CBI, have sent repeated missives to Choksi and Nirav Modi, asking them to join the probe. A special court has issued non-bailable warrants against them and at least 19 executives of their companies.

Modi, too, has turned down CBI's summons to return to India, telling the agency that he was too busy with his business abroad. The CBI said that Modi has not shared anything with regard to his current location.

CBI had emailed the summons to Modi a few days ago, asking him to appear before it for questioning. Modi wrote back, “I have business to run here. Won’t be able to join.”

The CBI had filed the first FIR in the scam on February 14 against Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal, Choksi and his firms Diamond R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamond. The agency stated that the fraud involved an amount of around Rs 6,400 crore. Modi, his family and Choksi left the country in early January.

The CBI filed a second FIR on February 15 for Rs 4,886.72-crore fraud against Choksi's Gitanjali Group. To date, 12 persons have been arrested by the CBI in connection with the case. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed to have attached properties worth Rs 6,000 crore.