CBI to convene conference on multiplying extraditions, Interpol requests

THe telephone exchange Bureau of investigating (CBI) is organising a first-of-its-kind “strategy group discussion” next hebdomad where all exchange and state agencies will discuss ways to publish more Interpol red notices against fugitives, coordinate efforts to track them on foreign soil and ultimately multiply the extradition numbers, which are currently abysmal, according to top officials in the government.Among other things, senior officials from the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax department, Customs, Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI), Financial Intelligence Unit (DRI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), the police from across India, ministry of home affairs (MHA) and ministry of external affairs (MEA) will deliberate on weather dedicated teams under different subheads could be created for locating and extraditing various kinds of fugitives, such as terrorists, drug smugglers, gangsters and white collar criminals, the officials said.The conference, being held on October 16-17 at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, will be inaugurated by Union home minister Amit Shah and will likely see foreign secretary Vikram Misri and home secretary Govind Mohan in attendance. The police liaison officers (PLOs) of international agencies based in India will also be invited for the conference.It will feature 8 sessions, out of which two will be dedicated to extradition: sending foolproof requests, follow-up with prosecution in respective countries, sending timely replies and informal interaction with overseas agencies.“The Union home minister first emphasised in July the need to recalibrate India’s approach towards bringing back fugitives from foreign countries, which requires more coordinated efforts from all the stakeholders and better international cooperation. Hence, the CBI is organising this first-of-its-kind strategy conference, where all agencies will discuss ways to multiply the extraditions, develop a joint approach to locate fugitives and use Interpol tools like red notice through proper channels,” a government officer said on condition of anonymity.Government data shows that out of 178 extradition requests sent by India to various countries between 2019 and 2024, only 23 fugitives could be brought back. To be sure, a total of 134 fugitives have actually returned in the last five years but a large number have come through the deportation route, which is a more informal process relying on diplomatic ties. This year alone, nearly 30 people have been brought this year through deportation or extradition. India has an extradition treaty with 48 countries.“The number is still very low. A large number of white collar criminals like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi; high-profile gangsters like Goldy Brar, Happy Passia, and drug smugglers based abroad have eluded the extraditions so far,” said a second officer.He added, “We will discuss the creation of dedicated teams for different categories of fugitives - terrorists, gangsters, drug smugglers and economic offenders - for a focused approach to coordinate with agencies in respective countries and send foolproof requests in consultation with the CBI and MEA.”This officer stressed that the MEA plays an important role in extraditions. “The conference will highlight the need for MEA to be more proactive while handling extraditions,” he added.One of the sessions during the conference will be on how states/UT police can use CBI’s Bharatpol platform to publish a large number of Interpol red notices, which will help restrict fugitives’ movement in their country of hiding.“Currently, we send around 200 requests to Interpol every year for issuing red notices while a smaller country like South Korea sends approximately ten times this number. The states/UTs need to be encouraged to use the international cooperation route with the help of CBI,” said the first officer.The conference will also discuss initiating “trial in absentia” for those fugitives whose extraditions are likely to take years. The trial in absentia was introduced for the first time in Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which replaced the criminal procedure code or CrPC.