Since the Modi government has come to power, India is on an extradition spree. Extradition is the act by one nation’s jurisdiction of delivering a person who has been accused of committing a crime in another nation’s jurisdiction or has been convicted of a crime in that other jurisdiction, into the custody of a law enforcement agency of that nation where he committed the crime.
A Request for Extradition can be initiated against a fugitive criminal, who is formally accused of, charged with, or convicted of an extradition offense. ‘Fugitive Criminal’ means a person who is accused or convicted of an extradition offense within the jurisdiction of a foreign state and includes a person who, while in India, conspires, attempts to commit or incites or participates as an accomplice in the commission of an extradition offense in a foreign state.
Last year in December in a written response to a question in the Lower House of the Parliament, Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh said that the incumbent government has been making every effort to bring back fugitive criminals who have fled the country after committing the crime.
Gen VK Singh said, “In the last three years, 11 fugitive criminals from various foreign countries, including the recent extradition of Christian Michel from UAE, were successfully brought back to India.” He further added that as of now, India has signed extradition treaties with around 50 countries and entered into extradition arrangements with 10 more countries, reports PTI.
It is the policy of the Government of India to initiate extradition treaties with as many countries as possible in order to ensure that the fugitive criminals are brought to book.
In the past five years to date, 22 extraditions have been carried out. The first extradition under Modi government was of Jaskaran Kalsi. In September 2014, Indian authorities successfully ensured extradition of Jaskaran Kalsi, an Indian, for murdered a Burundi national in Jalandhar, and then flew to Australia in order to escape the trial.
Some high profile extraditions and deportations include that of Jagtar Singh Tara, Chhota Rajan alias Rajendra Sadashiv Nickhale, Abdul Wahid Siddibapa aka Khan, Wily Naruenartwanich, Anup Chetia, James Christian Michel, Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, Md. Farooq Yasin Mansoor/ Farooq Takla among others.
Surjit Singh Badesha, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, James Christian Michel, Rajeev Saxena and Deepak Talwar were the latest to be extradited.
Extraditions and deportations have not been restricted to any particular country. Extraditions have taken place from Bahrain, Australia, Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Thailand, Morocco, Singapore, Canada, and Indonesia. In the recent times a large number of fugitives have been extradited from UAE.
There are many more in the pipeline. After the extradition of Christen Michel, the News18 has quoted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying that the trio of economic offenders like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi would follow Michel soon. Jatin Mehta is another fugitive that Indian authorities are looking to bring back.
There were media reports suggesting that Senegal police had arrested underworld don, Ravi Pujari, and he is set to be extradited to India very soon.
Good diplomacy, well presentation of a case, constant interactions with countries coupled with many other factors is the reason behind so many successful extraditions. The incumbent Modi government is serious about bringing the fugitives criminals to book, and it is clearly evident from their actions.