As India chases fugitives, UK team assesses Tihar facilities

NEw new delhi: A delegation from the UK’s coronate criminal prosecution serve (CPS) late visited Tihar Jail in Delhi to assess prison conditions, as part of efforts to strengthen India’s case for the extradition of , among others, high-profile economic offenders such as Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. The visit, facilitated by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), is seen as a significant step in ongoing legal proceedings in UK courts, senior officials confirmed.According to officials, although the CPS team was generally satisfied with the standards of care and facilities provided to inmates, Indian authorities are learnt to have assured the delegation that, if necessary, a dedicated “enclave” could be established within the Tihar complex to accommodate high-profile extraditees, ensuring their specific needs are met in line with international expectations and there is no threat to them.The inspection is expected to result in favorable feedback being relayed to UK authorities, bolstering the confidence of Indian investigators seeking the return of fugitives currently sheltering in the United Kingdom.Three senior officials independently confirmed the high-level visit, which took place in July, to HT. Email queries to the CPS press office in London and British high commission in Delhi remained unanswered.“A four-member team -- two CPS experts and two British high commission officials -- visited the Tihar prison in July to assess the prison conditions for extradition cases being pursued by CPS on behalf of the Indian government. They were largely impressed with the facilities available to the prisoners, including in high-security wards, and called them at par with international standards,” said one of the officers cited above.A second officer cited above said the CPS team inspected the high-security wards in the prison and even interacted with some inmates during their visit.“Besides, they also had a meeting with senior officers at the MHA, ministry of external affairs, investigating agencies and Tihar to comprehensively discuss various aspects related to extradition of suspects from the UK and legal requirements of the CPS prosecutors representing India,” the second officer said.Several high-profile white collar fugitives including arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, diamantaire Nirav Modi, and others located in the UK have argued in courts there that if extradited to India, they would be at real risk of extortion, torture or violence in Tihar jail, from other prisoners or prison officials.In fact, prison conditions were one of the major reasons the UK high court, on February 28 this year, refused Bhandari’s extradition to India. The HC, in April, also disallowed India to go into appeal to the Supreme Court, making Bhandari a free man in London. Citing similar arguments, on April 11, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring at Westminster Magistrate’s court discharged a fugitive couple -- Virkaran Awasty and his wife Ritika Awasty (accused in a ₹750 crore fraud) -- on unconditional bail. Goldspring referred to the Bhandari ruling in his order, saying “in the absence of assurances that Awasty won’t be held in Tihar, or if he is, that the issues raised in Bhandari (case) will not apply to him, the real risk remains”.The two judgements sent alarm bells ringing in Delhi, prompting CPS to write to Indian authorities advising them to provide a sovereign guarantee saying the accused will not be tortured or interrogated and will comply with article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which prohibits torture or inhuman treatment of prisoners.As reported by HT exclusively in June, the Indian government then gave a sovereign guarantee to the UK that Awastys will not be interrogated, if extradited.The government data reveals that 178 extradition requests of Indian agencies for economic offenders, terrorists and others are pending with various countries.Of these, nearly 20 requests are pending with the UK alone.Those being pursued in the UK include liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, underworld don Iqbal Mirchi’s wife Hajra Memon and their sons Asiq Iqbal Memon and Junaid Iqbal Memon and several UK based Khalistani leaders.