A case management hearing was held on state immunity, a principle that prevents a sovereign nation from being sued in a foreign court. Representing India, Harish Salve argued that this issue must be resolved before the case proceeds
Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi. File pic
Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi has filed a lawsuit in the London High Court against the Government of India and five individuals, alleging kidnapping and torture during a 2021 incident. Choksi, who is currently facing extradition proceedings in Belgium, is seeking 250,000 pounds in damages.
A case management hearing was held on state immunity, a principle that prevents a sovereign nation from being sued in a foreign court. Representing India, Harish Salve argued that this issue must be resolved before the case proceeds. On the other side, Edward Fitzgerald, representing Choksi, contended that the state immunity plea should be heard alongside other jurisdictional challenges raised by the defendants.
The two sides also clashed on the need for expert evidence. India argued that Indian legal expertise was necessary to support its jurisdiction application. Choksi’s legal team opposed this, saying it was unjustified and irrelevant to resolving the dispute. The five individual defendants — one of whom is a Hungarian national — are alleged to have resided in the UK and travelled between England and Antigua.
After hearing arguments throughout the afternoon, Justice Freedman sided with Choksi on both key points. He ruled that the state immunity issue would not be split from other jurisdictional challenges, and also did not agree with India’s request for expert legal evidence.
As both of India’s applications [state immunity and expert evidence] were dismissed, the court awarded legal costs to Choksi. Earlier, Fitzgerald had told the court that what Choksi endured was “appalling and traumatic.” “India was behind this... it was elaborate and pre-planned,” the court heard.
India has denied all allegations. Salve argued that Choksi’s claims are based on “non sequiturs and unsupported assumptions,” insisting there is no evidence of Indian involvement and calling the attempt to link the Indian state to the alleged events “illusory.” Choksi claims that between May 23 and 24, 2021, he was kidnapped from his residence in Antigua, taken by boat to Dominica, beaten, and tortured.
He alleges that he was threatened with death unless he returned to India. He was eventually allowed to return to Antigua in July 2021, and a formal investigation into the alleged kidnapping was launched. Choksi is relying on an exception to state immunity in cases involving personal injury, claiming it applies to his case.
The case
In April 2025, Choksi, former chairman of Gitanjali Gems Ltd, was arrested in Belgium based on India's request on his alleged involvement in defrauding Punjab National Bank of nearly $1.8 billion. The other accused in this case is Choksi's nephew, Nirav Modi, who remains imprisoned in the UK after losing the extradition case.
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