New Delhi: CBI has been advised by its lawyers in the United Kingdom not to proceed with an appeal against the high court order turning down the extradition of Naval war room leak case accused Ravi Shankaran.
Highly placed sources in the agency said their lawyers in London have suggested that an appeal in higher court "would not be fruitful".
The suggestion of its legal team has caught CBI off-guard as it was planning to appeal against the order of the bench comprising Lord Brian Leveson and Justice Blake. It had ruled that "prima facie there is no case against Ravi Shankaran", dealing a set back to CBI.
A copy of order has been received by the agency and its legal experts are studying it.
CBI has 14 days if it wants to go for an appeal against the decision, they said.
The court ruling overrides the extradition order of British Home Secretary Theresa May in May last year and the earlier decision of District Judge Nicolas Evans.
Shankaran had challenged the Home Secretary`s order in the High Court.
He is accused of allegedly leaking classified information from the War Room to arms dealers. He has been absconding since the case was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in March 2006.
His passport was revoked in May that year and a Red Corner Notice was issued against him in July 2006.
An extradition request was sent to the UK in 2007 following reports that he was in the country and he was arrested by UK authorities in April 2010 on the basis of the non-bailable arrest warrants issued by the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi.
Besides Shankaran, who is out on conditional bail, other accused in the case are sacked naval commander VK Jha, former Indian Air Force wing commander S L Surve and businessmen Abhishek Verma.
