'No Evidence': UK Court Rubbishes Mehul Choksi's Claim Of Being 'Kidnapped' By Indian Agents In Antigua, Slaps Rs 7 Crore Cost

A UK court, while issuing an order on the security for costs to the tune of £600,000 (Rs 7.3 crore) against fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, observed that his claim of being "abducted" in Antigua by the Indian government in May 2021 was without any “evidence”. In the order accessed by Times Now, the court observes that much of the evidence was "circumstantial" as was typical in "conspiracy cases" and said that there is no witness evidence, besides Choksi himself.“Further, unsurprisingly, there is no witness evidence as to the kidnapping and assault of the Claimant, other than that of the Claimant himself. As is typical of conspiracy cases, much of the evidence is circumstantial and the existence and detail of the conspiracy is said to arise

as a matter of inference. Mr Fitzgerald KC is right in saying that circumstantial evidence can be both powerful and sufficient; but at this early stage of the proceedings, before full consideration of all the available evidence, it is difficult to assess,” Justice Mansfield said in his order. Fitzgerald KC is Choksi’s counsel in London.

What is the case about?

In May 2024, Mehul Choksi sued the Indian government, four NRIs, and a Hungarian woman, alleging physical assault and mental harassment in connection with his alleged abduction in Antigua. He claimed that he was abducted and later taken to the Dominican Republic by boat.The court noted Choksi's counsel had submitted that it would be "unjust" to order him to pay security for costs to individuals against whom there is "strong evidence that they highly probably formed part of a conspiracy to abduct, torture and render him to India." "In support of that submission, he took me to a number of pieces of evidence, summarised both in his Skeleton Argument and in the Fifth Witness Statement of Mr Phillips, the Claimant’s solicitor. He relied on an Antiguan police report authored by Inspector Adonis Henry dated June 25, 2021, and upon evidence gathered in a witness statement of Oliver Laurence dated November 24, 2025. Mr Laurence is an investigator instructed by the Claimant’s family. Both Inspector Henry’s report and Mr Laurence’s statement refer to statements made by others and to documents seen by them," the court observed.It also noted that the police investigation in Antigua did not progress beyond Inspector Henry’s report. "Mr Fitzgerald KC’s submission was that the reason for this was that the investigation was shut down as a result of collusion between the defendants and the governments of Antigua and Dominica. The Claimant has brought separate proceedings in Antigua against the Antiguan government, alleging a breach of its duty to carry out an effective investigation into his treatment. Those proceedings, it is said, have been repeatedly delayed,” the court said in its order.Earlier, the Antwerp Court and the Court of Cassation in Belgium had also held that there was no evidence to prove that Mehul Choksi was abducted by “agents” hired by the Indian government in Antigua in May 2021.