Delivering the dodgers

With Rishi Sunak at the helm in the UK, New Delhi hopes for speedier extradition of fugitives

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

IN AUGUST, while he was campaigning to become prime minister, Rishi Sunak told a large gathering of British Indians that he wanted to transform India-UK ties into a more two-way” relationship. Aap sab mere parivar ho You all are my family),’ he said, after greeting the crowd with a traditional mix of namaste, salaam, khem cho and kidda.

Now that Sunak is finally in the saddle, hopes of improving the relationship are high. New Delhi already has a wish list for the new prime minister, and both countries expect a proposed free trade agreement to add heft to the ties. A priority in the wish list is the extradition of five fugitive economic offenders who found safe haven in the UK in the past few years. UK courts recently ruled in India’s favour in cases related to two of them: Nirav Modi, the diamond merchant accused in the Punjab National Bank loan scam case, lost his appeal against extradition on mental health grounds, while alleged arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari was ordered to be extradited to India for cases related to tax evasion and kickbacks.

Among the five fugitives in the UK sought by India, only Nirav Modi is in a UK jail see graphics). Bhandari and liquor baron Vijay Mallya, accused in a multi-crore bank fraud case, are out on bail. The UK is yet to begin extradition proceedings against D-company gangster Iqbal Mirchi’s widow Hajra Iqbal Memon and their sons Junaid Iqbal Memon and Asif Iqbal Memon, all of whom reportedly entered the UK while facing charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.