Fugitive diamantaire and bank-fraud accused Mehul Choksi has told a special court here that he will appear before it if he is fit to travel.

His lawyer Sanjay Abbot made this submission on Saturday before judge M.S. Azmi during the hearing of the Enforcement Directorate’s plea to declare Choksi a fugitive under the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

Choksi’s lawyer said his client was not fit to travel, so his statement could be recorded through videoconferencing or else ED officials could visit Antigua and record his statement.

Abbot added that the agency could, alternatively, wait three months because if Choksi’s condition improved, he would return to the country and appear before the court.

Choksi had cited “health issues” last month and sought dismissal of the ED plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender.

In one of 10 applications moved before the court on October 30, Choksi had said he could not undertake a “41-hour” flight to India because of a “brain clot” and other medical conditions.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank out of Rs 13,400 crore in collusion with a few of its employees.

The ED had asked for Choksi to be declared a fugitive because he was evading its summons and for his properties to be confiscated under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. PTI