LONDON: Indian criminal lawyer Vijay Aggarwal, who represents fugitive diamond businessman Mehul Choksi, has been arrested in London and is in jail charged with four sexual assault offences on two women. His personal assistant, Manpreet Kaur, is also in jail charged with intentionally encouraging the commission of two offences.The pair, both Indian citizens, were arrested on Aug 11 at 29 Brick Street, Mayfair, a serviced luxury ambassadorial town house where they both were staying, after Met police were alerted to reports of sexual assaults at the address.They were held in custody and charged on Aug 13 when they appeared together at Westminster magistrates’ court.Delhi-born Aggarwal (57) is charged with four counts of sexual assault against two women at the 4,000-sq-foot, four-storey, five-bedroom serviced town house, which comes with a maid and a daily breakfast hamper, and can be rented for £2,000 (about Rs 2.6 lakh) a night.Aggarwal is charged with three counts of sexual assault on a woman, contrary to Sec 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, on Sunday Aug 9 at the property, namely that he intentionally touched a woman and that the touching was sexual when she did not consent. He is also charged with one further count of the same offence on Tuesday, May 26.Kaur (41) is charged with two counts of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of a sexual assault offence, on May 26 and on Aug 9 at the property, by introducing two women to Vijay Aggarwal and inviting them to an address after posting a false job advert.Their case has been sent to Southwark crown court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on Sept 10. Both were remanded in custody.Two other individuals, a 23-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman, who were arrested on Aug 11 in connection with the investigation have been bailed pending further enquiries.The two women who reported the sexual assaults continue to be supported by specialist officers.Aggarwal has been representing Choksi in his extradition case in Antwerp, Belgium, where Choksi is in jail after being arrested on an extradition request from India in April 2025.Choksi, the uncle of Nirav Modi, fled India in Jan 2018, before the Punjab National Bank fraud surfaced, later gaining citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda. He is accused alongside Nirav and others of defrauding PNB of Rs 13,500 crore, which he denies.
