Court stays proceedings against Mehul Choksi, others in ₹55.27-crore bank fraud

The court stayed proceedings in the case till August 8 as the trial court order did not contain detailed order as to why it issued summons against the accused

MUMBAI: A special CBI court has stayed the proceedings against fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi in connection with a 2022 bank fraud case against him and others for allegedly defrauding the tune of ₹55.27 crore, a consortium of banks led by Canara Bank and Bank of Maharashtra. The court noted that the Esplanade court, while issuing a summons against the accused, failed to provide detailed reasons in its order.

Mumbai - 10 April 2014 - Mehul Choksi, Chairman Geetanjali group - The fundraiser in support of Swades Foundation at Palladium Hotel, Lower parel - Freelancer Photo by Prodip Guha (Hindustan Times)

The court stayed the proceedings after Choksi’s lawyer, Advocate Vijay Agarwal, moved a plea on behalf of Choksi and co-accused Aniyath Nair against the Esplanade court order stating that the magistrate court had passed the order in a “mechanical manner without application of mind” and without perusing the documents on record.

“Impugned summoning order has been passed at a lightning speed on the same day of filing of the chargesheet, without even perusing the chargesheet, which runs into thousands of pages,” stated the plea.

On April 17, 2025, the Esplanade court issued a summons to Choksi and five others in connection with the case after the CBI filed the chargesheet. Two days after this, the Esplanade court also issued a non-bailable warrant against Choksi.

In July 2022, the CBI registered an FIR against Choksi, Chetna Jayantilal Jhaveri, Dinesh Gopaldas Bhatia and Milind Anant Limaye, along with unknown public servants, based on a written complaint filed by the Chief General Manager of Canara Bank against Bezel Jewellery (India) Private Limited. The complaint accused the company of entering into fraudulent transactions and defaulting on payment obligations towards the banks by diverting and siphoning off the banks’ funds. According to the CBI chargesheet, the company diverted the entire foreign remittance received against the export of jewellery to reduce the overdrawing in the cash credit account of Gitanjali Gems Pvt Ltd, another firm of Choksi.

The sessions court on Friday allowed the plea, observing that the trial court did not pass a reasoned order. Even though the trial court has observed that there is sufficient material available on record, the order does not contain detailed reasons, observed the court. “The court expects at least some brief outline of the reasons which lead the trial court to form an opinion to issue a summons in the case”, said the special court.

The judge JP Darekar stayed the further proceedings in the case against Choksi and Nair till August 8, and directed the CBI to file a response to the plea by the defence advocate.