List of Extradition of An Alleged or Convicted Criminal to Republic of India

Hindustani78

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Extradition may be briefly described as the surrender of an alleged or convicted criminal by one State to another. More precisely, extradition may be defined as the process by which one State upon the request of another surrenders to the latter a person found within its jurisdiction for trial and punishment or, if he has been already convicted, only for punishment, on account of a crime punishable by the laws of the requesting State and committed outside the territory of the requested State.

Extradition plays an important role in the international battle against crime. It owes its existence to the so-called principle of territoriality of criminal law, according to which a State will not apply its penal statutes to acts committed outside its own boundaries except where the protection of special national interests is at stake. In view of the solidarity of nations in the repression of criminality, however, a State, though refusing to impose direct penal sanctions to offences committed abroad, is usually willing to cooperate otherwise in bringing the perpetrator to justice lest he goes unpunished.

ICPO-Interpol has been a forerunner in international efforts to improve and accelerate existing procedure of extradition. Apart from attempts by academic bodies such as the Harvard Research Draft Convention on Extradition, the ICPO-Interpol was the first international organization to recommend to member countries a Draft General Agreement for the Extradition of Offenders, which unfortunately has remained a dead letter since it was adopted by the General Assembly of the Organization (then known as the International Criminal Police Commission) in 1948.

Interpol's interest in finding ways of improving the extradition process did not end with the failure of the Draft General Agreement. Since the early fifties, the General Secretariat of the ICPO-Interpol has undertaken on behalf of the member countries two new activities intended to facilitate international police co-operation in matters relating to extradition.

The first of these initiatives concerns the publication of a series of circulars on a country basis, setting out the provisional measures that the police in each country may take when complying with a request from the police of another member country for quick action with a view to identification and arrest of a person wanted on a warrant of arrest. The second initiative taken by the ICPO-Interpol consists in the dissemination of national extradition laws. This activity is based on a resolution of the General Assembly passed in 1967 in Tokyo (Japan) inviting member countries to forward the texts of their extradition laws to the General Secretariat so that the latter may send them to other member countries for their information. The pre-extradition circulars and the texts of extradition laws of the member countries received from the General Secretariat are being maintained in the Interpol Wing.

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Christian Michel. Photo: Special Arrangement
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...extradition/article22391852.ece?homepage=true


Request to be sent to the UAE

The Enforcement Directorate has moved a request for the extradition of Christian Michel, alleged “middleman” in the VVIP helicopter deal, from the UAE.

He had allegedly received at least €30 million for ensuring that the contract went to AgustaWestland.

The request will be sent to the UAE via the External Affairs Ministry. The Home Ministry is now scrutinising the documents. The proceedings have been initiated under the extradition treaty between the two countries after both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation filed charge sheets in their respective bribery cases.

Non-bailable warrants have already been issued against Michel and on India’s request, the Interpol has subjected him to a Red Notice.

Michel’s case comes under Clause (a) of Article 2 of the extradition treaty, which provides that persons accused of an offence punishable under the laws of both the contracting states by imprisonment for a period of at least one year or more can be extradited.

Under Article 9, in case of urgency, India can also request his detention and submit the extradition request with relevant documents within 40 days. Agencies can also seek attachment of proceeds of the alleged offence under Article 13.

However, amid reports that an inquiry is pending against Michel in the UAE, there is a suspicion that he may take recourse to Article 15 of the Treaty, under which anyone facing legal proceedings in that country can be extradited, if allowed, only when the trial is over and the person has served the punishment there.

The British national is one of the three middlemen who have been accused of handling and routing more than €62 million for bribing Indian officials.

Immigration records have revealed that Michel was a frequent flyer to India and had undertaken as many as 300 trips between 1997 and 2013. In the first two months of 2013, he made three visits and had flown back to Dubai the last time in February that year, days before the CBI set up a preliminary probe into the bribery charges in the VVIP chopper deal.

ED investigations have found that Michel allegedly used his Dubai-based firm Global Services FZE. Some money was also sent to a media firm he had floated in Delhi, along with two Indians.

As alleged, the bribes were sent through a web of companies located abroad and in India on the pretext of work or consultancy contracts. The money trail has been detected in nine countries, including the UAE, the United Kingdom, British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Singapore and Tunisia.

The agencies allege that the deal caused a loss of €398.21 million to the Indian exchequer. As part of the alleged conspiracy, then Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi had lowered the service ceiling requirement of the helicopter from 6,000 to 4,500 metres and also revised operational conditions, which made AgustaWestland eligible for the deal.
 

Hindustani78

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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/652604/italian-court-acquits-former-agusta.html

An Italian court on Monday acquitted Finmeccanica former president Giuseppe Orsi and AgustaWestland former CEO Bruno Spagnolini with charges of bribing Indian officials in connection with the VVIP chopper deal.

The Italian court's order is a set back for the CBI, which had chargesheeted both Orsi and Spangnolini along with former Air Force chief S P Tyagi and others last September.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that the Milan appeals court acquitted Orsi and Spangnolini, who were earlier sentenced to four years six months and four years respectively, for international corruption and fake invoicing in the case.

In December 2016, the Italian supreme court of Cassation ordered a repeat of the appeals trial.


While sentencing them to imprisonment, the court had said there was "reasonable belief that corruption took place" in the VVIP helicopter deal.


India wanted to procure 12 VVIPs Helicopters from Agusta Westland, UK – a subsidiary of Finmeccanica in Italy and a bribe of about €58 million was claimed to have been paid to Indian leaders and officials.

The judgement had created ripples in India then because of mentions of the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, senior party leaders Ahmed Patel and Oscar Fernandes as well as former national security adviser M K Narayanan.

According to the CBI chargesheet, there was an estimated loss of €398.21 million (around Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal signed by the UPA government in February 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth €556.262 million.

The CBI has informed the court that it has been able to establish money trail worth €62 million (around Rs 415.40 crore) from countries like Mauritius, Singapore, the UAE, Tunisia, the UK and the British Virgin Island.
 

Hindustani78

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/mallya-case-on-right-track-rijiju/article22431521.ece

Defence had challenged testimonies

Home Minister Kiren Rijiju defended India’s handling of its attempt to extradite businessman Vijay Mallya, as the case formed part of the discussions he held with counterparts in the U.K.

“We have done all the homework,” he said at a meeting here on Friday, adding that things in the case were “moving in the right direction.”

The defence has been challenging the admissibility of evidence including the use and format of 161 witness statements in the prosecution case, pointing to the use of “template” testimony. Mr. Rijiju said the defence lawyers were simply “raising issues to delay matters.”

‘Don’t link it to polls’

He insisted that the Mallya case was not a political or electoral issue, and that India recognised that it was now within the court system. “Don’t link this to elections. This is a legal matter and to link it with politics would be wrong,” he said.

However, he welcomed the proactive approach of the U.K. government which had resulted in the swift progression of the matter from India’s request for extradition earlier this year to it entering the judicial system. “I brought up the issue of extradition and thanked the British government for the positive assistance we are getting from them with cases that India is watching with great interest,” he said.

Responding to the testimony earlier in the case relating to prison facilities, India has offered the court an assurance that Mr. Mallya would have access to private medical care, sources said.

Extradition requests

During the discussions, he also raised other cases, including “Tiger” Mohammed Hanif Umerji Patel wanted over the 1993 blasts. He said there were 14 extradition cases pending for India in the U.K., while the U.K. was currently seeking the return of 12 individuals from India.

Mr. Rijiju also highlighted India’s concerns about anti-India activity in the U.K. — specifically related to Kashmir and “Sikh radicals.”

“The U.K. and India are both democratic nations…we have free speech but we should not allow each other’s territory to be used in a way that is detrimental to the security of each country.”

Britain raised the case of British national Jagtar Singh Johal, currently in custody in India, Mr. Rijiju said. However, India termed the allegations of torture “absolutely false”. Britain had to have faith in the Indian court system as India had in the British one, he said.
 

Hindustani78

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http://www.hindustantimes.com/world...al-migrants/story-vMCuE787JXAiaQXEf2yBUN.html
India signs pact with UK on illegal migrants

India has signed an MoU with the United Kingdom to enable the return of illegal Indian migrants within a month of their detection by authorities abroad
india Updated: Jan 12, 2018 17:49 IST
Indo Asian News Service, London

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Friday confirmed that the pact was signed by him and UK Minister of State for Immigration Caroline Nokes in Britain on Wednesday during his visit along with an Indian delegation for a week(Twitter Photo)



  • India has signed an MoU with the United Kingdom to enable the return of illegal Indian migrants within a month of their detection by authorities abroad.

    Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Friday confirmed that the pact was signed by him and UK Minister of State for Immigration Caroline Nokes in Britain on Wednesday during his visit along with an Indian delegation for a week.

    “We finalised long-pending India-UK MoU on the returns of illegal migrants and sharing of criminal records,” Rijiju tweeted.

    The Memorandum of Understanding, which would affect hundreds of Indians, comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to the UK in March. The UK has consistently raised the issue of return of illegal migrants with India.

    Rijiju said he also discussed “issues of visas for dependents and students, social security, distressed Indian women and extradition”.

    A Home Ministry official said: “The process was not streamlined yet. The British authorities will first identify the illegal migrants, inform the Indian authorities, followed by police verification back home.


    “If the claims of the British authorities are found to be correct, then the travel documents of the person concerned will be readied and he/she deported by the UK authorities. This process will have a timeline of one month,” said the official.

    While the UK claims that the number of illegal migrants is in thousands, Indian agencies have found only 2,000 Indians are overstaying.

    The Minister on Thursday also thanked the UK government for its cooperation in the ongoing extradition case of liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya.

    He had also held talks with the Britain’s Minister of State for Security at the UK Home Office, Ben Wallace, on broad security issues.

    “As part of the discussions, the Minister thanked the UK government for cooperation in the Mallya extradition case,” a senior official present at the meeting said.

    Mallya, 62, is wanted in India to stand trial on charges of not repaying loans of around Rs 9,000 crore to various banks.

    Besides the extradition case, issues such as the rise of fundamentalism and Sikh extremism were discussed during Rijiju’s meeting with the UK Minister.
 

Hindustani78

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http://indianexpress.com/article/in...migrants-return-sharing-intelligence-5024471/

India, UK ink pacts on illegal migrants’ return, sharing intelligence
In addition to formalising the two agreements, Rijiju also visited the Heathrow

Airport to see first-hand how Border Force, a law enforcement command within the Home Office, uses technology such as biometrics and e-passport gates.



By: PTI | London | Updated: January 14, 2018 8:14 pm

India and the UK have signed two agreements on return of Indians, who are living in Britain as illegal migrants, and sharing criminal records and intelligence.

The development comes close on heels of India seeking UK’s help in early extradition of liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya from Britain to face the law at home in connection with cases of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores.

The memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed by UK’s Minister of Immigration Caroline Nokes and India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Thursday.

The new deals reflect increased co-operation between the two countries, which already enjoy a close relationship, according to a British government release issued here today.

“The MoU on criminal records exchange will lead to British and Indian law enforcement bodies sharing criminal records information, fingerprints and intelligence,” the statement said.

This will assist the police in protecting the public from known criminals, including sex offenders and also allow the courts in both countries to access more information to support tougher sentencing decisions.

The agreement on returns paves the way for a quicker and more efficient process for documenting and returning Indian nationals who have no right to be in the UK to India, it said.

This has proven difficult in the past due to some Indians not having the required paperwork or travel documentation for them to be accepted back in their home country.

The official release added that the agreement commits both countries to taking a more flexible approach to verifying the identity and nationality of individuals, which will help speed up the returns process.

“I was very pleased to welcome the Indian Home Affairs Minister to the UK. The agreements we’ve signed cover the important issues of returns and criminal records exchanges to the mutual benefit of both countries,” Nokes said.

“The minister’s (Rijiju’s) visit forms part of our ongoing dialogue and demonstrates the strong and positive relationship between our two nations,” she was quoted as saying in the statement.

“As my predecessor in this role noted during his visit to India last November, we are determined to create a ‘living bridge’ of people, ideas, institutions and technology between our two great countries. These new agreements are yet another example of the value we place on our strong partnership.”

Details of the types of information exchanged through the MoUs and operational procedures, together with the details of any restrictions on using or disclosing the information will be the subject of further negotiations, the statement said.

The documents recognise the need to respect privacy, civil liberties and human rights.

Rijiju was on a London visit at the invitation of Nokes’ predecessor, Brandon Lewis, following their successful meeting in India in November 2017.

In addition to formalising the two agreements, Rijiju also visited the Heathrow Airport to see first-hand how Border Force, a law enforcement command within the Home Office, uses technology such as biometrics and e-passport gates.
 

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http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/na...nked-to-british-properties-report/538198.html

London, February 3

India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim has been linked to a series of properties across Britain, according to a media report on Saturday.

The 62-year-old fugitive mafia boss, wanted in India as the mastermind of the Mumbai bomb blasts in 1993 and accused of crimes such as match-fixing and extortion, accrued a vast property portfolio across the Midlands and south-east in the UK as well as India, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Cyprus and Australia, 'The Times' reported.

The newspaper matched details from a dossier prepared by Indian authorities to records held by the UK's Companies House and the Land Registry, as well as the Panama Papers to form a snapshot of the alleged property portfolio.

It is claimed his syndicate, known as D-Company, once smuggled drugs through Pakistan and across Indian borders for shipment to Europe and North America from the ports at Mumbai, as portrayed in a new BBC series 'McMafia'.

Ibrahim, believed to be hiding in Pakistan, is the inspiration behind an Indian underworld don named "Dilly Mahmood" in the eight-part television series, which highlights the misuse of Britain by globally organised crime syndicates.

"Britain features in his (Ibrahim's) criminal world as a place where he can launder money – a classic 'McMafia' tactic.

He is thought to have property interests in a variety of southern English counties like Essex and Kent," Misha Glenny, who wrote the non-fiction book 'McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld' and is an executive producer on the TV series, told the newspaper.

"But we can't know for certain because the government has been dragging its heels in legislating to force transparency of the beneficial owners of companies registered in our overseas territories," she noted.

In an apparent parallel with Ibrahim, Dilly Mahmood is portrayed as an ambitious gangster rising from a modest background to dominate the black market in Mumbai in the series.

Documents seen by this newspaper also allege that on Ibrahim's behalf his right-hand man, Muhammed Iqbal "Mirchi" Memon, accrued a vast property portfolio in the UK which includes hotels, mansions, tower blocks and houses in suburbs in the south-east of England.

Memon, also a suspect in the 1993 Mumbai attacks, had sought refuge in London after the blasts and attempts to extradite him to India had failed.

He was never convicted of any crimes and denied his involvement in Ibrahim's cartel. Memon, who held 11 company directorships in tiling, construction and lettings firms in Britain, died after suffering a heart attack in London in 2013.

Ibrahim, who has an Interpol red notice against him, has been on the UK Treasury sanctions list for years with three recorded addresses in Pakistan.

The gangster's place of birth is recorded as Kher, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, and his nationality is listed as "Indian" with a recorded Indian passport, which was subsequently revoked by the government of India.

Financial sanctions in force in the UK cover measures such as prohibiting the transfer of funds to a sanctioned country and targeted asset freezes on individuals.

In relation to the alleged properties associated with him in the UK, Ibrahim would now be a likely target for new 'Unexplained Wealth Orders' introduced by the UK government this week.

UK security minister Ben Wallace, who has described the portrayal of crime bosses in 'McMafia' as "very close to the truth", wants the "full force of the government" to bear down on criminals and corrupt politicians using Britain as a playground and haven.

"'McMafia' is one of those things where you realise that fact is ahead of fiction. It's a really good portrayal of sharp-suited wealthy individuals, but follow the money and it ends up with a young girl getting trafficked for sex," he told 'The Times' in an interview.

"When we get to you, we will come for you, for your assets and we will make the environment that you live in difficult," he warned.

Unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) will require individuals suspected of serious crime or involvement in bribery or corruption to explain the source of property valued at more than 50,000 pounds.

For the first time the UK law also extends recovery powers to cover "politically exposed persons" from countries outside the European Union (EU).

The UK government estimates that about 90 billion pounds of illegal cash is laundered in Britain every year. PTI
 

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