The Supreme Court urged the Centre to create a policy to stop foreign nationals from escaping after committing crimes in India. The direction came as a Nigerian accused, Alex David, jumped bail with no extradition treaty in place.
New Delhi: On September 3, the Supreme Court stressed the urgent need for a clear policy to ensure that foreign nationals who commit crimes in India do not run away from justice. The observation came after the court was informed that a foreign national accused in a cheating case, Alex David, had jumped bail and absconded.
The top court had earlier, on December 4 last year, cancelled the Jharkhand High Court’s May 2022 order that had granted bail to David.
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When the case was taken up again on August 26 before a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih, the bench pointed out that India and Nigeria do not have any extradition treaty to send back a Nigerian national to face criminal proceedings here.
In its order, the bench said,
“The special leave petition stands disposed of, confirming the order of cancellation of bail but leaving it open to the central government to formulate an appropriate policy or initiate such further action as deemed necessary and proper so that foreign nationals do not flee the course of justice after committing crimes in India.”
Alex David was booked under multiple charges, including cheating and offences under the Information Technology Act.
After being granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court, the order was challenged in the Supreme Court. However, during the hearing, it was revealed that David had jumped bail and gone missing.
The Supreme Court then questioned the Centre about the procedure and guidelines it follows in such cases.
In response, the Centre filed an affidavit stating that there were already detailed guidelines on issues like investigation abroad, issuing letter rogatory, mutual legal assistance requests, and serving summons, notices, and judicial documents in criminal matters.
On December 4, while cancelling the high court order, the apex court had also directed the Centre to take necessary measures as per its own guidelines.
When the matter again came up on August 26, the counsel representing the Centre produced a communication sent to the Solicitor General by the Consultant (Legal) of the Ministry of External Affairs.
The bench recorded this communication, which stated,
“However, it may be noted that in the absence of a bi-lateral extradition treaty between India and Nigeria, the Nigerian authorities are unlikely to extradite their own national.”
The same communication also mentioned that an extradition request had been forwarded to the High Commission of India in Abuja, Nigeria, on the principle of reciprocity, for passing it further to the Nigerian authorities.
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It said,
“The communication said the extradition request was sent to the High Commission of India in Abuja, Nigeria, on the basis of ‘assurance of reciprocity’ for the onward transmission to the Nigerian authorities concerned.”
Considering these facts, especially the absence of an extradition treaty between India and Nigeria, the Supreme Court observed that keeping the petition pending would not be useful.
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