India seeks UK cooperation in extradition of 13 fugitives, including Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi

Pic courtesy: @KirenRijiju

New Delhi: India on Monday sought cooperation from Britain for extradition of thirteen fugitives and asked it to not allow its territory to be used by Kashmiri and Khalistani separatists.

The fugitives include including liquor barron Vijay Mallya, former IPL honcho Lalit Modi and cricket bookie Sanjiv Kapur.

These issues were raised by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju with British Minister of State for Immigration Brandon Lewis at a bilateral meeting in the national capital.

India also sought legal assistance in prosecution of 16 other alleged criminals, PTI reported.

At the same time, Rijiju asked Lewis not to allow the British territory to be used for anti-India activities by Kashmiri and Khalistani separatists,  a home ministry official said.

"Raised many issues about Indians in UK, extradition and mutual legal assistance treaty. Response was positive," Rijiju said after meeting Lewis.

He added, "Made position clear, response is positive from government's side but there can't be detailed discussion as matter is in court," as per ANI.

"Grateful to UK Immigration Minister for being considerate to our opinion, raised thirteen extradition cases and sixteen under mutual legal assistance treaty," Rijiju said.

I had a very positive & frank discussion with UK Minister of State for Immigration @BrandonLewis on issues concerning both India & UK. pic.twitter.com/6CKptSCVlO — Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) November 6, 2017

Enjoyed a positive meeting with @KirenRijiju this afternoon discussing shared aims on migration issues. @UKinIndia https://t.co/Fo2tBPR5Wb — Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) November 6, 2017

Meanwhile, a British court currently hearing the extradition case of embattled Mallya has rejected two extradition requests by the Indian authorities in recent weeks.

Judges at Westminster Magistrates Court in London ruled in favour of UK-based alleged bookie Sanjeev Kumar Chawla on October 16 and also discharged a fraud case against a British Indian couple, Jatinder and Asha Rani Angurala, on October 12.

Mallya is wanted in India on loan defaults to several banks amounting to about Rs 9,000-crore.

The case against Chawla, the key accused in the cricket match-fixing scandal involving former South African captain Hanse Cronje in 2000, was discharged by District Judge Rebecca Crane on human rights grounds over severe conditions in Tihar Jail in Delhi where he was to be held on being extradited.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992 and in force since November 1993, under which Bangladeshi national Mohammad Abdul Shakur wanted in the UK on murder charges was to be extradited from India most recently.

Besides Mallya, there are now five Indian extradition requests pending in UK courts involving fugitives Rajesh Kapoor, Tiger Hanif, Atul Singh, Raj Kumar Patel and Shaik Sadiq, based on a government statement made in the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

(With Agency inputs)