Mehul Choksi is currently in judicial custody in Dominica. File
A day before the Dominican High Court hears the bail plea of Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi, the prosecution has submitted in the court a Dominican government order that declares him a "prohibited immigrant".
"Mehul Choksi was declared a prohibited immigrant on May 25," states a notice issued by the Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The ministry also directed the police to "remove him from the Commonwealth of Dominica".
The order, signed by the Dominican minister for National Security and Home Affairs Rayburn Blackmoore, was sent to the police chief on May 25.
The prosecution agency today filed this order in court, along with another notice Mr Blackmoore sent to Mr Choksi individually. In the notice sent to Mr Choksi, the ministry has informed him that he is "not permitted to enter Dominica" and that police have been directed "to take all the necessary actions to have you repatriated".
In India, Mr Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told NDTV that both notices support their stand that he was abducted. "It was a state-sponsored abduction because these letters are dated 25th May and Dominica had announced to the world on the 26th that they have Mehul Choksi, so this very clearly shows that Mehul Choksi was abducted from Antigua."
Mr Aggarwal said that as per Section 6 of Dominica's Passport and Immigration Act, a person can be a prohibited immigrant only when he does not disclose his identity. "In fact, the stand taken by Dominica in court is that on 27th May, they came to know that the man in their custody is Mehul Choksi because they found his driving licence. So how was all this done when they got to know his identity only on the 27th? This shows that the documents are being created only to counter our stand and all state lies are falling flat on the face," he said.
Dominican Prime Minister Roosevlt Skerrit has also referred to Mr Choksi as Indian citizen but said the courts will decide the matter. "The matter with this Indian citizen is before the courts and they will decide what happens to this gentleman," Loop Jamaica News quoted him as saying.
Currently, Mr Choksi is in judicial custody in Dominica.