Mumbai, Jan 21 (ET): In what can be seen as a move to avoid extradition to India, Mehul Choksi, the fugitive tycoon, gave up his Indian citizenship and surrendered his passport to the Indian High Commission, according to several media reports.

Choksi had taken an oath of allegiance in Antigua in January 2018 after taking the citizenship of the Caribbean island nation in November 2017. The move comes after the Indian authorities had objected to his dual citizenship.

India and Antigua do not have an extradition treaty.

ET had earlier reported that the Antigua and Barbuda government had verbally assured that they were willing to expedite the extradition of Choksi.

The assurance came in the wake of the Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) against Choksi last month. In the past, Antigua and Barbuda had expressed reservations on sending back its citizen to India citing the non-issuance of RCN by the Interpol as the reason.

Antigua and Barbuda had granted citizenship to Choksi after a police clearance certificate issued by the Regional Passport Office, Mumbai.

Choksi and his Nephew Nirav Modi are wanted in India for the Rs 14,000 crore Punjab National BankNSE -0.78 % (PNB) fraud case, India's biggest banking fraud. Choksi had fled to Antigua in 2018 as the PNB fraud case unraveled leaving the Indian banking sector in a tumultuous situation.