Government mulls central body to handle Chhota Rajan-type arrests

NEW DELHI: When underworld don Chhota Rajan was nabbed in Bali last week on the basis of a red corner notice of Interpol, the home ministry appeared to have been caught unawares and took a long time to confirm his presence in Indonesia. To overcome such hurdles, it is now actively considering a proposal to revamp the central authority that deals with extradition and deportation.

The draft Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2015, which has been prepared by experts from agencies including National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), calls for enactment of a mutual assistance law and setting up of a central authority.

"An analysis of the cases from the past has shown that sending an extradition request through external affairs ministry takes a long time and often the ministry of home affairs, which deals with mutual legal assistance request, is not in the loop regarding the developments. Ideally both extradition and mutual legal assistance should be dealt at the same place," said a senior official. NR Wasan, director general of BPR&D, told ET, "We have submitted the draft policy before the MHA."




India has failed to secure extraditions in many high-profile cases including that of navy war room leak suspect Ravishankaran and Purulia arms drop case accused Kim Davy. Similarly, after a long battle, CBI could not secure the extradition of Iqbal Mirchi from London.

The proposed legislation calls for designating an authority of the rank of additional secretary/special secretary (international police cooperation) exclusively to handle matters related to extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. The head of the authority can be assisted by two joint secretaries, one of whom could be a police officer and another law officer having knowledge of international laws, as per the draft bill.

At present, the legal assistance requests and letters rogatory are handled by joint secretary (internal security-2) of home ministry in cooperation with Interpol branch of CBI. "It has been observed that the mutual legal assistance is not properly drafted by the local police, which results in no replies from foreign countries," the official cited earlier said.

As per the draft, the central authority will also have middle level officers to be taken on deputation from investigation agencies such as CBI, NIA and junior law officers from the law ministry. The central authority will also have the mandate to engage the services of law firms or advocates in other countries to take care of India’s interests.

According to the home ministry official, such legislation already exists in Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, UK, Germany, Vietnam and Japan, among other countries.