NEW DELHI: The extradition trial of fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, sought after in India for the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab Nationwide Financial institution (PNB) fraud, is about to start in a Belgian courtroom subsequent Monday, officers showed.Belgium steps in after India’s requestBelgian federal prosecutors will lead the hearings with fortify from the CBI and India’s Ministry of Exterior Affairs. Choksi, who has held Belgian residency since 2023 mentioning scientific causes, relocated there from Antigua and Barbuda, the place he had received citizenship in 2017. His spouse is a Belgian nationwide.India officially asked his extradition in January 2024, after tracing him to Belgium. Choksi was once arrested in April and stays in custody after more than one courts denied him bail. This marks the primary extradition case underneath the India-Belgium treaty signed in 2020.Case constructed on twin illegal activityThe CBI has submitted in depth documentation, together with FIRs, chargesheets and proof summaries, arguing that offences underneath the IPC, prison conspiracy, dishonest, falsification of accounts, and the Prevention of Corruption Act are similarly punishable in Belgium. Officers mentioned this satisfies the primary of “twin illegal activity,” a cornerstone of extradition regulation.India has additionally invoked global conventions such because the UN Conference in opposition to Transnational Organised Crime and the UN Conference in opposition to Corruption. Two open-ended arrest warrants from Mumbai courts (2018 and 2021) had been shared with Belgian government.India’s assurancesExpecting human rights considerations, India has confident Belgian courts of right kind stipulations at Mumbai’s Arthur Street Jail, the place Choksi could be lodged. Government detailed amenities to be had to rule out custodial torture or inhumane remedy.Choksi, who fled India on January 4, 2018, simply days sooner than the PNB fraud got here to mild, has contested makes an attempt to revoke his Antiguan citizenship. Officers, then again, care for that he stays an Indian citizen since he by no means finished the formal renunciation procedure.