NEW DELHI: A dispute over a Mumbai apartment has drawn the Enforcement Directorate into new legal territory, as investigators allege that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi deliberately transferred property to his son years before the Punjab National Bank fraud came to light — a claim now being contested before an appellate tribunal under India’s anti-money-laundering law.
A Property Dispute Reaches the Appellate Stage
The Enforcement Directorate has, for the first time, formally claimed that Rohan Choksi, son of fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, was “actively” involved in money laundering linked to the multi-thousand-crore Punjab National Bank fraud.
The allegation was made before the Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property (ATFP) in Delhi, where the agency was opposing Rohan Choksi’s plea against the attachment of a Walkeshwar Road apartment in Mumbai. The property, according to Rohan Choksi, was purchased by a family trust in June 1994 and later transferred into his name on November 1, 2013 — years before the alleged predicate offences that investigators say occurred between 2015 and 2017.
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ED’s Case: A “Calculated Move” Before the Fraud Surfaced
Arguing before the tribunal, the ED maintained that Mehul Choksi “deliberately caused” the transfer of the Walkeshwar property into his son’s name in 2013 as a “calculated move” in anticipation of future attachment if his fraud were detected. The agency told the tribunal that all material on record pointed to Rohan Choksi’s active involvement in money laundering alongside his father, following the commission of the predicate offence.
The ED further contended that even if a property was acquired long before the alleged fraud — in this case, in 1994 — it could still be attached as “value thereof” under the PMLA, even in the absence of direct proceeds of crime. Investigators argued that such an interpretation was necessary to prevent accused persons from shielding assets through early transfers to family members.
As part of its wider probe into the Punjab National Bank fraud, the ED has attached and seized properties worth ₹2,565 crore linked to Mehul Choksi, his companies, associated entities and family members. These include a Dadar East flat held in the name of Rohan Mercantile Pvt Ltd and the Walkeshwar Road apartment registered in Rohan Choksi’s name.
The Defence: No FIR, No Charges, No Crime Link
Rohan Choksi’s counsel, Vijay Aggarwal, strongly disputed the agency’s position, arguing that the attachment was based on “personal bias” rather than evidence linking the property to proceeds of crime. In submissions before the ATFP, the defence said the scope of investigation could not be “unnecessarily extended” to children and spouses, and warned that such actions amounted to “malice in law.”
The defence emphasised that Rohan Choksi has not been named in any first information report or charge sheet filed by either the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation. It also pointed out that he was a beneficiary of a family trust created in 1993, nearly a decade before the PMLA came into force.
Citing statutory timelines, the defence argued that since the 180-day limit for confirmation of provisional attachment had expired, the matter could not be remanded afresh. According to the submissions, the Walkeshwar property was therefore “rightly not confirmed” by the adjudicating authority in 2018.
A Procedural Turn and a Fugitive at the Centre
An adjudicating authority under the PMLA, in an order passed in August 2018, confirmed the ED’s attachment of the Dadar East flat but did not confirm the attachment of the Walkeshwar Road property. Earlier this month, however, ATFP members Balesh Kumar and Rajesh Malhotra referred the matter back to the adjudicating authority, saying it should correct its omission regarding the Walkeshwar apartment.
People familiar with the Choksi family told investigators that Rohan Choksi had separated his business interests from his father and was not in touch with him. His current location remains undisclosed, and he is not listed as a wanted person or named accused in any criminal case.
