The Kerala High Court held that a formal extradition request through diplomatic channels is not a precondition for the immediate arrest of a fugitive criminal, and that on receiving an international arrest warrant through Interpol the nodal agency must forward it both to the Central Government under Section 34-B and to the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 9 of the Extradition Act.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had approached the Belgian government last year, asking them to arrest fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi. This step was taken as a precautionary move ahead of formally sending an extradition request.
