31 Businesspersons Under CBI Investigation Absconding from India, Says Govt

As many as 31 businessmen from India are absconding and are under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), New Delhi, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

The list includes Vijay Mallya, Jatin Mehta, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi. The five fugitive Indians are among the 12 absconding businessmen being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

“The Ministry of External Affairs received extradition requests from CBI in respect of Mallya, Ashish Jobanputra, Pushpesh Kumar Baid, Sanjay Kalra, Varsha Kalra and Arti Kalra which have been sent to the concerned foreign countries for their consideration,” Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar said in the Lok Sabha on March 14 in reply to a question by Badaruddoza Khan.

“The extradition request from CBI in respect of Sunny Kalra is under process by the Ministry of External Affairs,” he added.

In reply to another question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said that the extradition proposals for fugitives Raymond Andrew Varley, Ravi Shankaran, Ajay Prasad Khaitan, Virendra Kumar Rastogi and Anand Kumar Jain, JK Angurala and Asha Rani Angurala and Jakkula Srinivas have been rejected by the UK government. A UK court also declined to issue warrants for arrest of Rishikesh Surendra Kardile, Patrick Charles Bowering and Kartik Venugopal, on the ground of insufficient evidence of extradition offence.

In the last three years, only one fugitive — Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel — has been extradited from the United Kingdom. Patel was extradited on Oct. 18, 2016 based on the extradition treaty between India and the United Kingdom. Currently, there are 16 extradition requests in respect of fugitives pending with the UK government.

To stop businessmen from leaving the country after committing fraud, the Indian government has decided to introduce the ‘Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018’ in parliament. The Bill would help in laying down measures to deter fugitive economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law. It provides for expeditious confiscation of proceeds of crime and properties of the fugitive economic offender with an aim to make him submit to the jurisdiction of courts in India.

The government of India has come under pressure to implement stringent policies in place after high-profile cases like those involving Mallya, Modi and Choksi came to light. The government has also made mandatory for businessmen borrowing Rs 50 crore or more to provide passport details.