In a recent move, the Centre has designated the CBI as the nodal agency to probe and prosecute Indians who have committed a crime in a foreign country, but cannot be extradited.
So far, the CBI has received 34 requests from various countries to investigate Indian nationals who have been taking refuge in India after committing a crime abroad.
Commenting on the move, a CBI official said, "The Centre has empowered and extended the jurisdiction of members of Delhi Special Police Establishment (CBI) under Section 5 of the DSPE Act to investigate and prosecute the offences as described under Section 4 of the IPC i.e. the offences committed outside the territorial jurisdiction of India referred to by the Central government from time to time."
So far, little action had been taken on the suspects accused of committing crimes abroad. They could not be extradited because of the limitation of bilateral treaties India has with countries where the crime has been committed.
"There are many countries to which we do not extradite our own nationals to be tried because of the lack of treaties with these countries. And the same goes for countries which are in an extradition treaty with us. Due to this the prosecution of individuals is very difficult," said the official.
He added, "Making CBI the nodal agency is a good step to bring to task and prosecute such individuals."
Currently, India has extradition treaties with 39 countries, of which 21 bar extradition of their nationals who have committed a crime here. India too does not extradite its own nationals there. Some of the countries to which Indian nationals are not extradited include Germany, France, Bulgaria, Portugal, Poland and Saudi Arabia.
In India too, so far, such suspects could not be investigated or tried, as the crime had been committed outside the jurisdiction of any of the Indian agencies including the Enforcement Directorate, the National Investigation Agency or state police forces.
Asked as to the nature of the crimes these Indian nationals had been accused of, CBI sources said that out of the 34 requests they had received, the majority of the crimes included banking and fraud. However, some of the crimes were of a more grievous nature like murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, fraud, and cheating.
"In most cases, it has been found that an Indian national has entered into a business transaction and offered payments through cheques which later bounced. But yes, some of the cases are more serious in nature," a senior CBI official said.
But while the CBI has been now given the licence to investigate these nationals, prosecution is still another matter. In order to prosecute such foreign citizens locally, the CBI will have to obtain sanction from the Ministry of Home Affairs under Section 188 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the official said.
The official added that they can only be prosecuted here if the offence for which they have been charged is a cognisable offence in India too.
