- Enforcement Directorate(ED) has said that the United Kingdom(UK) have not taken any action on the requests of ED for attachment of assets and Non-bailable warrant(NBW) against the fugitive diamond dealer Nirav Modi.
- Earlier,ED had started investigations against Nirav Modi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.It had sent a request to UK for NBW under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty(MLAT).
- It said that UK government have maintained that a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against an accused could only be executed through an extradition request and not through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). Therefore,the extradition request for Nirav Modi could only be sent after a charge sheet was filed against him.
- A mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws.
- This assistance may take the form of (a)examining and identifying people (b)places and things (c)custodial transfers and (d)providing assistance with the immobilisation of the instruments of criminal activity.India has signed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with 39 countries.
- Extradition is simply the surrender of a criminal to one country by another.The process is regulated by treaties between the two countries.Extradition is governed by the Indian Extradition Act,1962.India has extradition treaties with 44 countries.India and UK have signed Extradition treaty in 1992 and has been in effect since 1993.
