Five months after Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamond trader wanted for the alleged `13,000-crore Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, was arrested in Belgium, an Antwerp court Friday cleared his extradition, it is learnt.

Choksi may now appeal against the Court of Appeal’s preliminary judgment before the Belgian Supreme Court in the next 15 days, a source said.

The Court of Appeal is learnt to have said that Choksi’s arrest by Belgian authorities on India’s request was valid. The order came a month after the Indian government had assured the Belgian government that it would keep Choksi in Mumbai ’s Arthur Road jail complex “if extradited”.

The source mentioned above said: “This is a win and the first step towards his extradition. The Court of Appeal in Antwerp, Belgium after hearing

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