Diamond businessman Mehul Choksi, wanted in India for fraud worth Rs 13,000 crore, has reportedly won a court case.

The Antigua and Barbuda High Court ruled in his favour, allowing him to remain on the island without deportation. The court has issued an order prohibiting the expulsion of Mehul Choksi from the island territory without a High Court ruling following an inter-party hearing.

The order also states that it is contingent on Choksi exhausting all available legal remedies, including an appeal.

Choksi requests an investigation into his claim and seeks relief, including a statement stating his right to a thorough and prompt investigation into the circumstances surrounding his forcible removal from Antigua and Barbuda on or about May 23, 2021.

Following his request to the Lyon-based agency, his name was removed from Interpol’s red notice database last month.

Interpol issued a Red Notice against Choksi in 2018, nearly 10 months after he fled India in January for refuge in Antigua and Barbuda, where he was granted citizenship.

Choksi had questioned the CBI’s application to issue a red notice against him, saying the case resulted from a political conspiracy. They added that he also asked questions about prison conditions in India and his personal safety and health.

In its charge sheet, the agency accused Choksi of defrauding Rs 7,080.86 crore, making it one of the largest bank frauds in the country, defrauding more than Rs 13,000 crore. Nirav Modi allegedly embezzled Rs 6,000 crore. Defaults on additional loans of more than Rs 5,000 crore by Choksi companies are also a matter of CBI investigation.

Choksi, who disappeared from his safe haven in Antigua and Barbuda in May 2021, mysteriously reappeared in neighbouring Dominica, where he was detained for illegal entry.