Context: UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed off on the order to extradite Nirav Modi, wanted in India on fraud and money-laundering charges related to the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, senior Indian diplomatic sources in the UK said on Friday. Back on February 25, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court had concluded that the diamond merchant has a case to answer before the Indian courts, leaving the sign-off on the order with the Cabinet minister. Meanwhile, the Indian Government has time and again said that fugitive businessmen Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi will be brought back to India to face the law. The government is pursuing the extradition of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi from the UK while Mehul Choksi is believed to be in Antigua and Barbuda. The process however is a long and cumbersome one. In this edition of Big Picture, we analyse the issue of extradition to India.
Note: India and the UK entered into an extradition treaty in 1992.
Key Points

• Extradition is the process by which one state, upon the request of another, affects the return of a person for trial for a crime punishable by the laws of the requesting state and committed outside the state of refuge.
• The Supreme Court defined extradition as the delivery on the part of one State to another of those whom it is desired to deal with for crimes of which they have been accused or convicted and are justifiable in the Courts of the other State.
• Extraditable persons include those charged with a crime but not yet tried, those tried and convicted who have escaped custody, and those convicted in absentia.

Extradition Law in India:

• In India, the extradition of a fugitive criminal is governed under the Indian Extradition Act, 1962.
• This is for both extraditing persons to India and from India to foreign countries.
• The basis of the extradition could be a treaty between India and another country.
• At present India has an Extradition treaty with more than 40 countries and Extradition agreement with 11 countries.

Extradition Treaty

• Section 2(d) of The Indian Extradition Act 1962 defines an ‘Extradition Treaty’ as a Treaty, Agreement or Arrangement made by India with a Foreign State, relating to the extradition of fugitive criminals which extends to and is binding on India. Extradition treaties are traditionally bilateral in character.

Principles Followed

• The extradition applies only to such offences which are mentioned in the treaty.
• It applies the principle of dual criminality which means that the offence sought to be an offence in the national laws of requesting as well as requested country.
• The requested country must be satisfied that there is a prima facie case made against the offender.
• The extradition should be made only for the offence for which extradition was requested.
• The accused must be provided with a fair trial.

Nodal Authority

• Consular, Passport and Visa Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, administers the Extradition Act and it processes incoming and outgoing Extradition Requests.

Implementation

• Extradition can be initiated in the case of under-investigation, under-trial and convicted criminals.
• In cases under investigation, abundant precautions have to be exercised by the law enforcement agency to ensure that it is in possession of prima facie evidence to sustain the allegation before the Courts of Law in the Foreign State.

Road Ahead

• Extradition is very difficult and cumbersome process there is no common minimum understanding even between nations that we have extanding treaties with, as the court interprets the law differently, there are loopholes that are exploited and we need to fix them. Crimes like terror and murder needs to have some kinds of common ground that the guilty are punished. Extradition should we the weapon of last resort. What we really need to do is strengthen our own law so that we don't give that to it first place.