Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, wanted in India in connection with the $1.8 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, has sued the Indian government in the High Court in London, alleging that it masterminded his abduction from Antigua in 2021. Choksi claims he was forcibly taken from Antigua to Dominica in an attempted extrajudicial extradition.

Choksi's legal team presented their claims on Monday, June 16, 2025, asserting that India had both the motivation and resources to carry out such an operation. His lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, argued before the court that "The evidence points inevitably to India being behind this." Choksi alleges that he was beaten in a failed attempt to extort a false confession and implicate India's political opposition, which he says points to state involvement in the incident.

India has consistently denied involvement in the alleged abduction. Harish Salve, representing the Indian government, submitted court documents stating that "There is no evidence of India having anything to do with the alleged events." The Indian authorities have also objected to the UK jurisdiction based on "state immunity" and sought permission for expert evidence on Indian law and the Indian Constitution to be taken into account.

The case revolves around Choksi's controversial removal from Antigua, where he holds citizenship, to Dominica. He claims this was an extrajudicial attempt to circumvent legal extradition procedures related to the PNB fraud case, one of the largest financial scams in Indian history.

Choksi's lawyers allege that there was collusion between five individuals in the attack on him in Antigua to be forcibly taken to Dominica in the Caribbean with the purpose of being “rendered” to India. “The Defendants thereby entered into an unlawful means conspiracy whereby the Defendants agreed to, and then did, inflict unlawful and injurious acts on the Claimant by means of assault, battery, false imprisonment, unlawful detention, and/or unlawful restriction of liberty,” Choksi's legal claim reads.

The London court is currently considering India's application to dismiss Choksi's lawsuit on grounds of state immunity. The hearing on Monday focused on setting a timeline for that decision. During the hearing, the court was told that Choksi claims to have been tortured back in May 2021 as part of the kidnap attempt “orchestrated by the government of India”.

India argues that Choksi is pursuing the claim to cause embarrassment and gain leverage in his attempts to avoid extradition. "It is India's position that the present claim is being pursued principally with the (misguided) intention of attempting to cause embarrassment to India and obtain leverage in the Claimant's international attempts to avoid extradition," Salve argued.

Choksi was accused of making “extremely serious allegations against India, alleging it masterminded an international plot to kidnap and harm him”.

Choksi, who was arrested earlier this year in Belgium, faces extradition proceedings while simultaneously pursuing legal action in Britain. He is wanted in India along with his nephew, Nirav Modi, who remains behind bars in London after repeated attempts at bail have been denied by the English courts. In April 2021, then UK home secretary Priti Patel had ordered his extradition to face these charges in the Indian courts after a prima facie case was established against him. Recent court hearings in London have alluded to a "confidential" impediment to his extradition, believed to be an asylum application.

The UK lawsuit revives a 2021 claim by Choksi that he was kidnapped from his residence in Antigua between May 23 and 25, beaten, and taken by boat to Dominica. There, he was arrested for entering the country illegally. He was held for over a month before being granted $10,000 bail and returning to Antigua for medical treatment. The criminal case against him in Dominica was dropped in May 2022, reportedly based on a 19-page Antiguan police report that supported Choksi's claim of abduction.