India-US meet on legal assistance begins in Delhi

New Delhi: A three-day India-US international cooperation workshop on mutual legal assistance and extradition began here Wednesday.

The workshop, being jointly organised by the Central Bureau of Investigation, ministries of home affairs and external affairs and the US Department of Justice, was inaugurated by CBI director Anil Sinha.

Sinha spoke of the importance of international cooperation to effectively tackle the activities of local, regional and international organised criminal groups and in strengthening collaboration with different countries in preventing, investigating and prosecuting the criminal offences.

The key theme of the workshop was "Obtaining evidence located in the US".

"The workshop would help focus on understanding how to obtain electronic evidence and bank records from the US in their legal framework," he said.

It will focus on procedures adopted by both countries to seek and provide mutual legal assistance, the provisions of the India-US Mutual Assistance Treaty, including asset recovery/forfeiture and extradition procedures.

The workshop will also discuss how to obtain information related to bank accounts and digital evidence from the US and the related laws and cyber crime issues of the US.