62 Fugitives extradited to India since 2002, another 110 yet to be extradited
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 20, 2017
As per data available with the government, 62 fugitives were extradited to India since 2002. Most of them were extradited from UAE followed by USA. 54 of the extradited fugitives are Indian nationals while most of them were extradited for offences like murder and terrorism related charges.
Vijay Mallya was reportedly arrested by the Scotland Yard on April 18th in connection with an extradition request filed by India.  India officially filed a request for extradition with the United Kingdom (UK) on 8th February 2017. The UK Government has sent the extradition request to the concerned court in UK.  The arrest marks the beginning of the long & arduous process of extradition. Government data indicates that only 62 fugitives were extradited to India since 2002 while 110 other fugitives are yet to be extradited though formal request has been made by India.
India has Extradition Treaties with 47 countries
As on date, India has signed Extradition Treaties with the following 47 countries.
India also has Extradition Arrangements with 9 more countries namely Croatia, Fiji, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden and Tanzania.
What is the process of Extradition?
A request for extradition can be initiated against a fugitive criminal who is formally accused of, charged with or convicted of an extradition offence. According to the government, such requests are handled with utmost care so as not to allow the fugitive an opportunity to take measures to avoid getting extradited. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) takes up extradition requests with the concerned foreign countries when a request for extradition is received from the relevant law enforcement agencies in India.
All extradition requests should be supported by documents and information as prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) guidelines. It has to be noted that each extradition request is different and the request is dependent on the specific treaty/agreement signed with a country. The offence should also be defined in the list of the extradition offences.
What are the different offences defined in the extradition treaty with UK?
The extradition treaty with the UK was signed in the year 1993. This treaty defines the scope of the extradition offence as one which is punishable by law for a term of imprisonment of at least one year. This treaty does not classify political offences as extradition offences. But it provides an exhaustive list of offences that will not be treated as a political offence.
Most individuals extradited from UAE
A total of sixty two (62) fugitives have been extradited to India from a foreign country from 2002 till December 2016. Till date, 21 different countries have extradited people to India. The highest extraditions happened from UAE (18) followed by USA (9). Four (4) each were extradited from Canada and Thailand, three (3) each from Germany & South Africa. Only two fugitives were extradited till date from UK; Grant Duncan Alexander, a British citizen was extradited from Tanzania and UK for Child Sexual Abuse and Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, an Indian citizen for Murder.
Out of the 62 extradited since 2002, 54 of them are Indian nationals and 3 of them are British. There is one US citizen, one Australian, one Canadian, one Israeli and one Thai.
Most fugitives extradited in 2005
The most fugitives (8) were extradited in 2005 followed by seven each in 2003 and 2004. Six (6) fugitives were extradited in 2015 during the rule of the current government. In both 2006 and 2009, 5 fugitives each were extradited.
Most people extradited for Murder & Terrorism related offences
Out of the 62 fugitives extradited since 2002, 14 of them were extradited for murder related offences and 10 for offences related to criminal conspiracy. Nine (9) of them were extradited for terrorism related offences including three of them from the UAE regarding the Mumbai Bomb Blasts of the 90s.  Seven (7) of them were extradited for economic offences like financial fraud. Four of them were extradited for cheating while 3 each were extradited for sexual abuse of children and waging war against India. The other offences include attempt to murder, cheating, forgery, drug offences and passport fraud etc. During the same period, 45 fugitives were extradited to foreign countries from India.