THE Dominica High Court has denied bail to fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi in the case of illegal entry into the island country after his mysterious disappearance from neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda where he is staying as a citizen since 2018, local Caribbean media reported.

 

The High Court on Friday gave the ruling by concluding that Choksi was a “flight risk”, did not have any ties with Dominica and the court could not impose any conditions which will stop him from leaving the country, news outlet AntiguaNewsroom said. Choksi had approached the High Court after the magistrate had rejected his bail petition. Meanwhile, India has approached the Dominica High Court seeking to be impleaded as a party in the case filed by lawyers of Choksi. The CBI is likely to focus on establishing criminal culpability of Choksi, his fugitive status, pending warrants against him, Red Notice and chargesheets while the External Affairs Ministry will argue that Choksi continues to be an Indian citizen, they said.