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India govt’s extradition efforts yield limited results in 2021

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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

Rs 4,300 crore loan fraud: ED seizes Rs 67 crore assets of power company, officials

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Nagpur, Oct 24: The ED attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 67.79 crore in the form of bank balances, lands, buildings and flats linked to a businessman and a coal-based power project company involved in a Rs 4,300 crore bank loan fraud, said an official on Friday.

The Nagpur zonal unit of the ED took action against properties situated across Maharashtra, Kolkata, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh in the name of Manoj Jayaswal, his family members and others.

The operation on October 16 was conducted under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, in the case against Corporate Power Limited and others. The total attachments/seizure/frozen bank assets in this case now stand at Rs 571 crore.

The money laundering case against the company and its officials is linked to a proposed coal-based power plant in Jharkhand of 1080 MW power for which a loan was taken from a consortium of 20 banks led by the Union Bank of India.

The ED initiated its PMLA investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Corporate Power Limited, its promoters, directors, and others for criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery.

The federal agency probe revealed that the accused created a network of 800 shell companies and 5,000 bank accounts to misappropriate the loan funds that were declared non-performing assets (NPA) in 2013-14.

Earlier, the agency had conducted searches in Kolkata, Nagpur and Visakhapatnam in the case and recovered cash, documents, and seized movable assets like mutual funds, securities and term deposits.

The CBI, after registering an FIR, said in a statement in 2022 that the Union Bank of India, the lead lender of the consortium, declared the account as non-performing assets (NPA) on September 30, 2013, and subsequently, the other member consortium banks also classified the said account as NPA.

The accounts of the said borrower company were declared as fraudulent on October 25, 2019, the CBI said in a statement.

Shedding light on the modus operandi used in the Rs 4,307.87 crore loan fraud, the CBI said, “It was further alleged that between the years 2009 to 2013, the said borrower had submitted manipulated project cost statements and also diverted the bank funds.”

It was also alleged that the trade receivables, mainly including transactions to related parties and funds, were diverted to a web of various companies that were dummy accounts; accordingly, the borrower was able to siphon off the funds, the CBI statement said.

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Crime

Cyber fraudsters impersonate Damoh collector on WhatsApp; swift action averts potential crisis

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Bhopal/Damoh, Oct 24: In a brazen bid to exploit trust and siphon funds from unsuspecting contacts, cybercriminals allegedly created a fake WhatsApp account impersonating Damoh District Collector Sudhir Kochhar, using fabricated documents and a Vietnamese country code to mask their tracks.

The audacious scheme, targeting the collector’s personal network of friends and associates, was thwarted before it could blossom into a full-blown cyber crisis, thanks to the vigilant intervention of the district administration and police.

The impostor account, complete with the collector’s profile picture and official details, began dispatching urgent messages soliciting financial aid under false pretences – ranging from fabricated emergencies to urgent “official” transfers.

Recipients, believing the pleas emanated from the trusted IAS officer, were moments away from compliance when the ruse unravelled.

Collector Kochhar, upon receiving wind of the anomaly through a tip-off from a wary contact, wasted no time in alerting Superintendent of Police Shrutkirti Somvanshi.

“As soon as the information surfaced, my e-governance and cyber teams swung into action,” Kochhar recounted in a press briefing at the SP’s office.

“We traced the suspicious activity within hours, preventing any pecuniary loss.”

A formal complaint against an unidentified perpetrator was promptly lodged at the Damoh SP office, invoking provisions under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for identity theft and attempted fraud.

The cyber cell of Madhya Pradesh Police in Damoh, a specialised unit equipped with advanced forensic tools, has since launched a meticulous probe.

Investigators are delving into digital footprints, including IP logs, device metadata, and the forged credentials used to register the account via WhatsApp’s Vietnamese (+84) prefix – a common ploy to evade Indian jurisdiction and detection algorithms.

“The fraudsters’ use of international codes underscores their sophistication, but our team is collaborating with national cyber agencies to unmask them,” affirmed SP Somvanshi, emphasising round-the-clock monitoring.

This incident is not an isolated skirmish in Madhya Pradesh’s escalating cyber warfare.

Statewide, cyber frauds have surged by 45 per cent in 2025, per Madhya Pradesh Police data, with impersonation scams claiming over Rs 150 crore in losses.

High-profile targets like district collectors are prime prey, as seen in recent cases from neighbouring Gwalior and Sagar, where fake profiles duped officials into transferring lakhs.

Nationally, similar ruses have ensnared bureaucrats in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, where fraudsters posed as superiors to extract funds via WhatsApp.

Underscoring the gravity, Collector Kochhar issued a stark public advisory: “I maintain no personal IDs on any social media or messaging platforms. Disregard any such accounts purporting to be mine.”

He urged citizens to abstain from engaging with unsolicited requests for money, sharing sensitive details, or initiating transactions, labelling such overtures as hallmarks of cyber entrapment.

“Report anomalies immediately to 1930, the national cyber helpline, or your local police. Vigilance is our collective shield,” he urged, flanked by cyber cell officers demonstrating scam-spotting techniques.

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Crime

Sonam Wangchuk case: Advisory Board holds 3-hour discussion in Jodhpur Jail, wife present

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Jaipur, Oct 24: The members of the Advisory Board on Friday held a three-hour hearing at Jodhpur Central Jail in Rajasthan to review the detention of environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA).

The three-member panel arrived at the jail around 10:30 a.m. from the Jodhpur Circuit House to record Wangchuk’s statements and review documents related to the case. Wangchuk’s wife, Geetanjali Angmo, was also present during the proceedings.

The hearing was conducted by Advisory Board Chairman and former judge M.K. Hujura, District Judge Manoj Parihar and social activist Spal Jayesh Angmo.

The Advisory Board is a special constitutional body constituted under the National Security Act (NSA) 1980, which reviews cases of preventive detention

The closed-door session reportedly focused on the reasons cited by the administration for invoking the NSA and Wangchuk’s representation challenging the same.

Sonam Wangchuk, a well-known innovator and environmentalist from Ladakh, was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) earlier this year. The move triggered nationwide protests and legal challenges, with several rights groups calling the detention arbitrary.

The Supreme Court is also hearing petitions against the government’s action.

Wangchuk’s wife, Geetanjali Angmo, stated that their legal team has challenged both the grounds of detention and the procedural lapses in the case. She alleged that Wangchuk’s statements and videos were distorted and presented out of context, forming a misleading basis for the NSA order.

It determines whether the detention has adequate justification. The board comprises three members, all of whom are sitting or former High Court judges, appointed by the Chief Justice of the High Court of the respective state.

The government must submit all relevant documents to the board within three weeks of detention, and the board must send its report within seven weeks.

Proceedings remain confidential, and detainees are heard in person without the presence of lawyers. The board’s recommendations will determine whether Wangchuk’s detention under the NSA continues or is revoked, said officials.

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