Crime
India govt’s extradition efforts yield limited results in 2021

As 2021 draws to a close, the Narendra Modi governments efforts to extradite Indian businessmen from Britain for alleged fraud against Indian banks are yet to materialise.
The failed deportation of Lieutenant (Retd) Ravi Shankaran, who was accused of stealing and selling classified information from the Indian Navy’s war room, was not appealed against.
Vijay Mallya, chairman of the now closed Kingfisher Airlines, who was ordered to be extradited by the British judiciary in 2019, is yet to be sent to India. Similarly, diamantaire Nirav Modi continues to fight a legal battle to avoid deportation. Unlike Mallya, though, he has been held in custody at south London’s Wandworth prison since his arrest in 2019.
India and the UK had signed an extradition treaty in 1992. This was ratified the following year and has been in force since. Yet, only two individuals – one of them voluntarily – have been returned to India.
British solicitors Gherson’s comment is: “Chief among these bars to extradition has been the (UK) Court’s obligation to ensure that extradition would be incompatible with the rights of an individual under the European Convention on Human Rights, codified in English law with the passing of the Human Rights Act, 1998.”
London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court had ordered Mallya’s extradition and this was upheld by the High Court of England. Gherson observes: “It has been widely reported that Mallya has, however, lodged an asylum claim, which has resulted in the extradition request being put on hold for the time being.”
The High Court of England, which earlier this year declared Mallya bankrupt at the instance of creditor Indian banks, will hear an appeal from him on the matter in the New Year.
Legal circles in the British capital believe he is bound to bring to the notice of the court that assets seized from him by Indian investigators have been sold and money owed to the banks have been received by them.
On July 26 last, Mallya had tweeted: “ED attached my assets worth (Rs) 14K crore at behest of Govt Banks against debt of (Rs) 6.2K crore. They restore assets to Banks who recover (Rs) 9K crore in cash and retain security over (Rs) 5K crore more. Banks ask Court to make me Bankrupt as they may have to return money to the ED. Incredible.”
Three days later, he posted on Twitter an Indian newspaper clipping which reported: “IDBI Bank said that it has recovered the entire dues pertaining to Kingfisher Airlines, which helped the lender report a 318 per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ended June 2021.”
In effect, the same court, which in a ruling prior to the bankruptcy order had expressed confidence that Mallya would be able to settle his debt, may now need to take into account the fact that the banks have actually recovered their lending. In other words, if it reverses its judgement, this could potentially have an impact on the extradition verdict as well.
Gherson points out the conclusion of the judge at the Westminster Court was based on the Indian government contending that loans from Indian banks “were premised on a conspiracy to commit fraud by way of fraudulent misrepresentation”.
The fact is, Indian investigators have failed to establish a case in this respect against the then chairman and senior executives of IDBI Bank, who were named as being co-conspirators with Mallya.
Nirav Modi, who too was ordered to be extradited, appealed against this on the grounds that his mental health is such that he is a suicide risk. This was heard on December 14 last. “He is at high risk of suicide already and his condition is likely to deteriorate further in Mumbai,” Modi’s barrister Edward Fitzgerald argued.
If Nirav Modi loses his appeal, he could still seek reviews at either the UK’s Supreme Court, or the European Court of Human Rights. Mallya did not exercise these options.
Significantly, the cases against them were registered when Britain was still a member state of the European Union (EU) and came under EU laws.
In chasing high-profile, headline-making alleged fugitives for justice, the Government of India may have neglected the serious issue of pilferage of sensitive documents from the Indian Navy’s war room by Shankaran.
The extradition request in this connection was rejected by the High Court of England in 2014. If there was no scope of an appeal, this does not appear to have been adequately explained. One newspaper claimed Shankaran earned a whopping sum from selling the stolen papers to armaments firms and dealers. The accused, said to be residing in London, could not be reached for a comment.
Crime
Bengaluru: Nursing student raped by PG owner after confessing to theft; accused held

Bengaluru, June 25: An incident has been reported from Bengaluru on Wednesday where a nursing student was allegedly raped by the owner of a paying guest (PG) accommodation after she confessed to a theft, officials said.
The police have arrested the accused.
The arrested person has been identified as 35-year-old Ravi Teja Reddy, the owner of the PG facility.
According to the police, Reddy raped the 21-year-old woman after she admitted to stealing three gold rings from another girl residing in the same PG.
Following the victim’s complaint, Reddy has been booked for rape and taken into police custody.
The victim, a nursing graduate from Andhra Pradesh, had joined the PG only a week prior to the incident and was searching for a job, the police said.
Investigations revealed that the victim had allegedly stolen three gold rings from another PG inmate.
She had also disconnected the CCTV camera wire during the theft.
However, she asked another inmate whether the CCTV footage would still be recorded despite the wire of the CCTV camera being cut.
This conversation was shared with Reddy, which raised his suspicion on the nurse.
Reddy then summoned the victim for questioning and threatened to hand her over to the police.
The girl reportedly confessed to the theft, after which Reddy instructed his aides to retrieve the hidden valuables, police added.
When the victim pleaded with Reddy to forgive her and not to inform the police, he allegedly slapped her and sexually assaulted her.
Initially hesitant to file a complaint, the victim later confided in a male friend.
The friend then contacted a city-based advocate, who helped lodge a formal complaint with the police.
Based on the complaint, the police sent the victim for a medical examination and arrested the accused.
Reddy has been booked under Sections 64(1), 74, and 75(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.
In her complaint, the victim said that Reddy initially touched her private parts under the pretext of checking her.
When she resisted, he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex.
The FIR further mentions that the victim, unable to control her urge to vomit after the assault, ran to the restroom.
Reddy followed her and allegedly forced her to have unnatural sex again.
The victim also said that Reddy later threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone.
It was only after the victim’s friends came to her support that she gathered the courage to file a complaint.
Crime
PFI had ‘hit list’ of 950 in Kerala including judge, reveals NIA probe

Kochi, June 25: In a startling revelation made by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), it has surfaced that the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) had prepared a hit list of 950 people in Kerala.
The list, which surfaced in the media on Wednesday, included a now-retired district judge.
Incidentally, this list was submitted early this month by the NIA at a special court here when the bail applications of four accused in the murder of RSS leader Sreenivasan came up for hearing. The NIA opposed the bail strongly. The four accused, identified as Muhammad Bilal, Riyasudheen, Ansar K.P. and Saheer K.V., were arrested for murdering Sreenivasan at Palakkad, Kerala, in 2022.
The list of 950 was compiled after getting confirmed inputs from different places by the NIA probe team. It includes eight documents seized from the 51st accused, Sirajudheen, which contain a list of 240 people from other communities.
Then, while conducting a search held at Periyar Valley Campus at Aluva, NIA was able to get the details of five targeted persons from the purse of the 15th accused, Abdul Wahad, who is presently on the run.
It was in this list that the name of a former district judge was found.
Another document seized from an accused, who turned approver later, contained a hit list with the names of 232 people.
Similarly, a search held at the home of the 69th accused, Ayoob, a hit list containing the names of about 500 people was found.
When the NIA was probing the Sreenivasan case, the PFI link emerged. It was later found that PFI had sinister plans to create unrest in the country.
During the investigation, the anti-terror agency got details of the PFI carrying out physical and arms training for its cadres.
The NIA has now claimed that it has voice clips and witness statements that reveal the ‘India 2047 plan’ of setting up Islamic rule in India.
The special court, after hearing both sides and going through the documents produced before it, observed that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the petitioners was prima facie true, and rejected the bail petition.
Crime
Punjab Vigilance raids residence of Akali leader Majithia in drug case

Chandigarh, June 25: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday conducted a raid on the private residence of Shiromani Akali Dal’s former minister Bikram Singh Majithia in Amritsar in a drug case.
He has been facing charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act since December 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections.
A spokesperson for the government said the raid has been underway as part of the Bhagwant Mann government’s biggest ongoing action against drugs. A team of 30 Vigilance personnel, comprising senior officials, reached the residence when Majithia and his family were present there.
Former legislator Majithia, who is the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal, had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2022 after a Mohali trial court dismissed his anticipatory bail petition in a case under the NDPS Act registered on December 20, 2021.
In a 49-page FIR filed by the state police Crime Branch at the Mohali police station, the SAD leader has been booked under sections 25, 27A and 29 of the NDPS Act.
In his plea, Majithia had termed the case a result of “political vendetta” and argued that there was no credible and legally admissible material against him.
The court, however, had granted an interim bail but allowed the Special Investigation Team to interrogate Majithia.
The High Court had observed that there was no material placed on record showing possession, transportation, storage by or recovery of any contraband from Majithia.
“All recoveries in the concluded trials have been effected from specific individuals and the petitioner was not shown therein to have any role in that regard,” it had observed, referring to convictions of drug seizure cases of Jagdish Bola and others.
However, the High Court clarified in the 26-page judgment that the court’s opinion was tentative and was made only for deciding his bail application and should not be construed as an expression of a “final opinion”.
In March 2025, the Supreme Court had directed Majithia to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Patiala after the state government reported that he was refusing to cooperate with the probe. However, in April, the apex court dismissed the petition filed by Punjab, challenging the bail granted to Majithia.
“The respondent (Majithia) was participating in the process of further investigation. In view of the said facts and also taking note that the liberty was granted on August 10, 2022, more than two-and-a-half years ago, at present, we are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order. Accordingly, the SLP stands dismissed,” observed a Bench comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Aravind Kumar, rejecting the state’s petition.
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