
India has 338 pending extraditions: Shah pushes for swift returns
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said a “ruthless approach” must be adopted to bring every fugitive before the Indian justice system in a time-bound manner. He also underlined that India cannot be truly secure until those residing abroad and harming the country’s economy, sovereignty, and security begin to fear the Indian laws.
Addressing a conference on ‘Extradition of Fugitives – Challenges and Strategies‘ organized by the CBI here, Shah asked all the states to set up at least one prison cell of international standards to blunt the claims of poor standards of Indian jails often made by fugitives in foreign courts to counter their extradition proceedings. The Home Minister also suggested developing a coordination mechanism between the passport issuance process and the law enforcement agencies, so that when the process of issuing a Red Corner Notice begins against any offender, their passport can be red-flagged.
“It is not a difficult thing to do with the present technologies. When a red notice is issued, the passport should be cancelled to block the fugitive’s international travel. If we can build this provision into the system, it will help bring the fugitives back,” Shah said. Several fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi have raised the issue of poor conditions of Indian prisons to counter their extradition cases in foreign courts. India has 338 extradition requests pending with various countries.
Earlier, CBI Director Praveen Sood said in his welcome address that India issued a record 199 Interpol notices in 2025, which is more than double compared to 2024, when 96 Interpol notices were issued — 52 red and 44 blue. As many as 189 notices were issued in the first nine months of 2025, including 79 red notices and 110 blue notices, Sood said. “So far, Interpol has published a total of 957 red notices against fugitives. Of these, 231 are related to CBI cases, 130 to NIA, 21 to ED, 12 to NCB cases, and the remaining to various state police forces,” he said.
Shah said two crucial aspects — assurance and ecosystem — are essential to apprehend any fugitive, as he stressed the need to eliminate the assurance in the minds of fugitive criminals that the law cannot reach them. He said the ecosystem of legal, financial, and political support must be dismantled, and the institutional nexus created by fugitives abroad eradicated.
The Home Minister suggested that with the cooperation of the CBI, every state must establish a unit dedicated to creating a mechanism for bringing back fugitives who committed crimes and fled the state. Shah also asked the agencies to use “to the fullest extent” Sections 355 and 356 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which provide for ‘trial in absentia‘ that has been included in the law for the first time since India’s Independence, allowing trials of fugitives to proceed even in their absence.
“Whether they are economic offenders, cyber criminals, those involved in terrorist activities, or part of organized crime networks, a ruthless approach must be adopted against every fugitive to ensure they are brought before the Indian justice system. The time has come for this,” Shah said. Senior officials from the Cabinet Secretariat, IB, the external affairs ministry, CBI, ED, NTRO, FIU, CBDT, NCB, NIA, and Mumbai Police will deliberate on key issues during the conference, ranging from Bharatpol and Interpol products, geo-locating fugitives, bringing them back, strengthening cases in foreign jurisdictions, pursuing fugitives, and tracking the money trail.
A session by Helen Malcolm, a well-established extradition advocate from the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, is of special interest, with many high-profile fugitives such as Vijay Mallya, Sanjay Bhandari, Nirav Modi, Vir Karan Awasthy, and Ritika Awasthy presently living in the UK, with Indian agencies finding it difficult to seek their repatriation to face the law here.
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