Tracking Fugitives Everywhere

Context: There’s a need for streamlining Indian extradition law and procedures to check criminals from going undetected.

Issues in Indian extradition law framework

    

• Multiplicity of laws: Indian law on extradition is spread across the Indian Penal Code as well as various laws pertaining to narcotic drugs, Information Technology, hijacking, and so on.
• Procedural laws have the Code of Criminal Procedure as their backbone, but there are other laws too, such as the Extradition Act, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering, and so on.
• Issues in investigation and prosecution: 
• Tendency to close investigations: Both in State Police and Central agencies, there’s a tendency to close investigations once the accused have absconded.
• Poor record in coordinating efforts: Number of cases where coordinated efforts are made to pursue fugitives, domestically or internationally, is hardly documented.
• Low number of wanted notices issued: Number of Red Corner Notices issued are only 750, whereas it is 300 for Blue Corner Notices.
• No coordinated system or database for tracking criminals: There exists a system of tracking criminals worldwide through Interpol Notices.
• But, in the absence of such a system in India, it is relatively easy for criminals from one police station/jurisdiction to melt into the population in any other area, almost undetected.

Way forward

• Create a nationwide database of wanted persons: Accessible for police agencies, the public and others (like passport and immigration authorities).
  • The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid are efforts in the right direction, but more integration is desirable.
• Legal integration: All relevant legal processes and requirements should be incorporated into one consolidated law on international cooperation.
  • Specialised set-up with an Integrated International Cooperation Division (IICD) at the top with linkages with proposed fugitive tracking units at the State level.
• Plug loopholes in sharing its ‘wanted’ database or providing access to it to foreign embassies: On a reciprocal basis or through treaties and Signing bilateral agreements on cooperation in policing matters.
• Follow global practices: the U.S. have functional inter-State extradition and fugitive tracking systems.