New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is set to host a groundbreaking “strategy conference” next week, bringing together top officials from central and state agencies. The primary goal is to brainstorm and implement effective strategies for bringing fugitives back to India. Key discussions will revolve around increasing the issuance of Interpol red notices, coordinating international efforts to locate fugitives abroad, and significantly boosting the current “abysmal” extradition numbers.
The conference will see participation from senior officials across various agencies, including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax department, Customs, Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), state and union territory police forces, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). They will explore the creation of specialized teams dedicated to locating and extraditing different categories of fugitives.
Scheduled for October 16-17 at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, the event will be inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Home Secretary Govind Mohan are also expected to attend. Additionally, police liaison officers from international agencies based in India have been invited.
This initiative stems from Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s July directive to recalibrate India’s approach to fugitive repatriation, emphasizing the need for greater stakeholder coordination and international cooperation. The CBI’s conference aims to translate this vision into actionable strategies.
The conference agenda includes eight sessions, with two specifically dedicated to extradition. These sessions will cover critical aspects such as submitting flawless extradition requests, diligently following up with prosecution in foreign countries, providing timely responses, and fostering informal interactions with overseas agencies.
Government data highlights a significant gap in India’s extradition process, with only 23 out of 178 extradition requests successfully resulting in repatriation between 2019 and 2024. While 134 fugitives have returned through deportation or extradition over the past five years, a substantial number have utilized deportation, a less formal process. This year alone, approximately 30 individuals have been brought back. India currently has extradition treaties with 48 countries.
Officials noted the concerning trend of high-profile criminals, including economic offenders like Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, as well as gangsters such as Goldy Brar and drug smugglers, evading extradition. The conference plans to address this by discussing the formation of specialized teams to handle categories like terrorists, gangsters, drug smugglers, and economic offenders, enabling a focused approach and ensuring robust requests in collaboration with the CBI and MEA.
The MEA’s role in extradition is crucial, and the conference will underscore the need for more proactive engagement from the ministry in handling these cases.
A key session will also focus on leveraging the CBI’s Bharatpol platform for states and UT police to issue a larger volume of Interpol red notices. This initiative aims to improve the restriction of fugitives’ movements globally. Currently, India submits around 200 requests for red notices annually, a figure significantly lower than that of countries like South Korea.
Furthermore, the conference will explore the possibility of initiating “trial in absentia” for fugitives whose extraditions are likely to be protracted. This legal procedure, recently introduced in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), allows criminal trials to proceed even in the absence of the accused.