Lokendra Sharma was arrested on August 15 in a domestic violence case, while Kishan Singh was held on August 23 for drugs-related offences.
LONDON – The arrests have been seen as part of increasing responsiveness of British authorities to India’s extradition requests in recent years, and are considered significant in the context of the poor record of extraditions since the signing of the 1993 India-UK treaty.(Getty Images/Picture for representation)
The UK has begun extradition proceedings against two Indian citizens arrested for offences related to drugs and domestic violence in Westminster Magistrates Court.
Lokendra Sharma was arrested on August 15 in a domestic violence case, while Kishan Singh was held on August 23 for drugs-related offences. Both were given bail at preliminary hearings, a spokesperson of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The arrests have been seen as part of increasing responsiveness of British authorities to India’s extradition requests in recent years, and are considered significant in the context of the poor record of extraditions since the signing of the 1993 India-UK treaty.
“Kishan Singh had his first appearance at court on August 23, when he was released on bail. He is due to return to court on September 21 for a case management hearing,” the CPS spokesperson said.
“On Lokendra Sharma, there have been two hearings. The first was on August 15 (and) the next hearing date is a case management hearing on December 18. The extradition hearing date is to be confirmed.”
Sharma and Singh are among 18 extradition requests pending with the British government, including the high-profile cases of businessmen Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and alleged cricket bookie Sanjeev Chawla.
In Mallya’s case, the process was speeded up. The home secretary certified India’s request — the first stage of the extradition process — soon after it was received, and he was arrested in April 2017.
A judgment in Mallya’s case is due to be delivered on December 10, while British authorities have been making procedural inquiries in Nirav Modi’s case. The home secretary is yet to formally certify the extradition request for Nirav Modi — any arrest follows the certification.
A judgement is also expected later this year on India’s appeal in the high court against the magistrates court’s ruling in October 2017, turning down the request to extradite Chawla to face trial for his role in match-fixing during South Africa’s tour of India in 2000.
Other pending extradition cases are those of Rajesh Kapoor and Seema Kapoor, Tiger Hanif, Shaikh Sadiq, Pavilose Fernandez, Rishikesh Surendra Kardile, Chandan Sharma, Patrick Charles Bowring, Palaniappan Rajaratinam, Kartik Venugopal, S Balakrishnan, Ritika Avasty, Kavaljit Sinh Mahendra Singh Raijada and Arti Dhir, and Raj Kumar Patel.
