Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service inspects Tihar jail as India intensifies efforts to extradite fugitives

A team from Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recently inspected Tihar Jail in the national capital, according to prison sources.

This is part of the government’s efforts to bring fugitives back to India. The primary objective of the government was to intensify efforts to bring back fugitives like Nirav Modi to India. The government is also looking to prove that the accused who would be extradited will get a safe environment in Tihar jail.

In the past the British courts had rejected India’s extradition petitions in some cases citing Jail conditions. For this reason, the Indian government has also given a guarantee to Britain that no accused will be illegally interrogated in jail.

According to the information, the CPS team visited the high-security ward of Tihar and spoke with the prisoners there. The officials assured them that if needed, a special “enclave” will be built in the jail premises, where high-profile accused can stay safe.

So far, 178 extradition requests of India are pending abroad, out of which about 20 are stuck in Britain alone. These include the names of arms dealers and operatives with Khalistani links. Earlier this year, in July, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had stated that the Indian government is continuing to “make the case” for the extradition of fugitives from the United Kingdom (U.K.) as part of their ongoing efforts to secure the return of these individuals wanted for legal proceedings in India.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is currently living in London, is the subject of extradition efforts for alleged loan defaults. He is accused in a bank loan default case of over ₹9,000 crore.

Nirav Modi, who is currently in the custody of the U.K. authorities, is the prime accused in the over ₹13,800 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank. He was declared a fugitive economic offender by India in December 2019. He was arrested in March 2019, and his extradition to India has already been approved by the U.K. High Court. The PMLA case against him and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, was registered by the ED in 2018, with multiple assets seized during the investigation.