New Delhi: Even as it extended the geographical jurisdiction of its own Extradition Act, India has notified that an extradition arrangement has existed with Antigua and Barbuda since 2001 on the basis of the Carribean nation’s legal provisions.
The notification, dated August 3, coincided with the visit of an Indian team to Antigua and Barbuda to hand over a formal request for extraditing fugitive billionaire Mehul Choksi, who is wanted in the $1.17 billion Punjab National Bank scam.
The gazette notification issued by MEA joint secretary states:
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Extradition Act, 1962 (34 of 1962), the Central Government hereby directs that the provisions of the Extradition Act, 1962, other than Chapter III, shall apply with respect to Antigua and Barbuda with effect from the date of notifying India as a Designated Commonwealth Country under the provisions of the Extradition Act, 1993 (12 of 1993) of Antigua and Barbuda, by Statutory Instrument No. 34 of 2001 dated the 17th September, 2001.
Currently, Antigua and Barbuda does not have a bilateral extradition treaty with India, but since both are members of the Commonwealth, they are therefore party to the Commonwealth Scheme for the Rendition of Fugitive Offenders, 1966.
The Commonwealth Scheme is, however, “less than a treaty” and non-binding. It is supposed to “signify no more than that Commonwealth governments had agreed upon general principles which they would follow in the course of drafting”.
While the Commonwealth Scheme intended for all members to designate all Commonwealth countries for extradition automatically, most countries have the provision for designating certain Commonwealth countries by name under their statutes. Antigua and Barbuda’s 1993 extradition act was one of them. Under section 7(1) of the Antiguan act, an authority had to publish the name of the “designated Commonwealth country” in the official gazette. India was notified as a “designated Commonwealth country” by a ‘Statutory Instrument’ in 2001.
Last week, an Indian delegation led by a senior MEA official met with Antiguan authorities. Earlier in July, Indian high commissioner V. Mahalingam had also travelled to the Carribean nation to hold talks about the extradition of Choksi with the foreign minister and other senior officials.
Choksi had applied for Antiguan citizenship in May 2017 under the Citizenship by Investment scheme. On August 2, Antigua’s CIU unit claimed that a positive police clearance certificate issued by MEA and a clean chit from SEBI had facilitated Choksi’s application process. The MEA had asserted that a PCC is only issued as per the guidelines. More so, SEBI denied that it was contacted by any international agency about Choksi.
The diamantaire’s application was approved in August 2017 and he was registered as a citizen in November 2017. After escaping from India just before the PNB scam became public, Choksi took the oath of allegiance in February 2018.
According to the Antigua Observer, the Attorney General had stated on July 30 that that “Statutory instrument no 34/2001 and Section 7 of the Extradition Act 12/1993, there exists bilateral extradition arrangements between Antigua and Barbuda and India”.