SC refuses to allow stay Kohli's extradition

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the order allowing extradition of Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, accused of raping and killing British teenager Hannah Foster.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan declined to give an early hearing to the petition filed by Kohli, challenging the order of the magistrate and the Delhi High Court on his extradition issue.

The Court said that the matter will be heard on July 20. Kohli, who has been in custody for over two years now, had moved the Apex Court on Wednesday, challenging the order of his extradition to the United Kingdom.

His counsel had contended that that there was no prima facie evidence against him, which could be held by the magistrate as the basis for allowing his extradition.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had modified the order of the extradition magistrate, which dealt with the merits of the case.

The High Court on Kohli's appeal had said findings of the extradition magistrate shall be treated only as a prima facie and not as conclusive evidence.

The counsel had contended that the High Court only dealt with the adverse observations made by the magistrate on the accused but it did not go into the merits of the order and claimed that the evidence relied against Kohli was full of contradictions.

The magistrate's court on June 8 had allowed the extradition of Kohli to United Kingdom.

The court, however, had made it clear that no death penalty be awarded to Kohli even after he was found guilty after the trial in United Kingdom.

Kohli is charged with raping and murdering the 17-year-old British girl and then fleeing to India from Britain two days after the victim's body was found.