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Absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, if extradited from Belgium, will be housed in Barrack Number 12 at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. With this arrangement, there would be no chance of overcrowding or solitary confinement, as at least one more economic offender is expected to be housed in his cell.
According to media reports, The Union Home Ministry informed the Belgian authorities through a September 4 communiqué that the personal living space for each inmate in Barack number 12 of the prison is in line with and fully meets the minimum space requirement of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) of Europe.
Choksi was arrested in Belgium in April based on an extradition request from the CBI. He is wanted in the Rs 13,000 crore bank fraud case in Punjab National Bank, which he allegedly orchestrated along with his nephew Nirav Modi.
Choksi (66) had fled to Antigua and Barbuda, where he had taken citizenship months before the scam became public.
After he was stopped in Belgium, the CBI, the External Affairs Ministry, and the Home Ministry swung into action to get him extradited to India to face the law.
