New Delhi, April 17 -- Arrested by Antwerp police last Saturday, fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi will first be produced before the Belgian minister of justice, Annelies Verlinden, who will evaluate India's extradition request and the charges under which Choksi has been taken into custody, people familiar with the procedure in the European country said.

"If Verlinden is convinced that India's request has substance, meets the 'dual criminality' criteria of embezzlement, transnational crime and bribery being crimes in both countries, then she will approve his arrest as legal after which the matter will be marked to a court for formal extradition proceedings," said an officer at an Indian federal investigation agency, who asked not to be n...