Delhi High Court upholds extradition of Uttar Pradesh resident to Oman for murder trial

The Delhi High Court recently upheld the Central government’s decision to extradite an Uttar Pradesh resident to Oman in connection with a murder case in Oman [Majibullah Mohammad Haneef v. Union of India]..Justice Amit Bansal observed that the offence of murder is punishable with imprisonment of more than one year in both India and Oman and therefore, is an extraditable offence as per the Extradition Treaty agreed to by both countries.The Court concluded that sufficient material had been submitted by Oman to make out a prima facie case in support of the extradition. Oman in 2019 had made a request for the provisional arrest of the petitioner, Majibullah Mohammad Haneef and others in terms of an Extradition Treaty between Oman and India. .The request was made after fingerprints of the suspect were found at a home where a family of five persons including three children were found dead. The petitioner's counsel submitted that the fingerprints and DNA samples were found in the victim’s house as he was engaged for whitewashing it. On why the evidence was also found on the bodies of the victims, the Court was told the petitioner was checking if they were alive.However, the Court found no such defence was led on behalf of the petitioner before the magistrate during the proceedings initiated by the Central government after Oman made a formal request for the petitioner's extradition. These were the defences that would be open for the petitioner to take at the time of trial before the concerned court in Oman, the High Court added..The Court also noted that there was nothing to suggest that the murders in question were in the nature of a political offence. No submissions had been made in this regard, it noted.On the petitioner’s argument that authorities from Oman should have appeared before the magistrate for authenticating their documents, the Court noted that Section 10 of the Extradition Act does not envisage that documents can be exhibited only after authorities from the Requesting State depose before the Indian Courts.“The mandate of Section 10 of the Extradition Act is absolutely clear that all exhibits and depositions which are authenticated by the Requesting State can be received in evidence,” it added.The documents had been signed by Oman’s Attorney General and duly authenticated by the office of the Public Prosecution there, the Court noted..The Court also rejected the argument that the Central government had failed to apply its independent mind before requesting the magistrate for an inquiry under the Extradition Act.The High Court found that Union of India had made queries from Oman initially and had also sought an assurance from Oman for the conduct of a fair trial, the provision of free legal aid and the engagement of services of an interpreter during the trial. The Union of India had also explored possibilities of commuting the death penalty to life imprisonment in the event that the petitioner is found guilty of the alleged crime, the Court noted. Therefore, the High Court dismissed the petition of the accused man and upheld the decision of the Union of India to extradite him to the Sultanate of Oman..Advocates Bahar U Barqui and Maroof Ahmad represented the petitioner.Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, Central Government Standing Counsel Ajay Digpaul with Advocates Amit Gupta, Swati Kawatra, Ishita Pathak, Kamal Digpaul and Saurabh Tripathi represented the Central government..[Read Judgment]