UK team inspects Tihar Jail amid extradition concerns

A team from Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recently visited Delhi’s Tihar Jail to review conditions at India’s largest prison complex, in what is being seen as part of ongoing extradition-related evaluations.

Prison administration sources confirmed to The Tribune that the delegation, comprising two CPS experts and two officials from the British High Commission, inspected the jail on July 17. They were shown the high-security ward and were briefed on the facilities and safeguards available to inmates. The team also interacted with some prisoners.

A senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official said such visits are increasingly vital to counter defence arguments in foreign courts. “Whenever we attempt to extradite a fugitive, their legal teams argue Indian jails are unsafe. That is why we showed them Tihar, to satisfy themselves about the conditions,” the official said.

The visit came weeks after Bhandari won his extradition appeal in Britain. The High Court ruled he risked torture or inhuman treatment if sent back to India, a judgment that dealt a blow to Indian enforcement agencies.

Bhandari fled India in 2016 after Income Tax raids and is under probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in multiple cases, including one under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was recently declared a fugitive economic offender by a Delhi court for evading authorities and allegedly holding undisclosed foreign assets worth over Rs 100 crore.

The Centre has long maintained that jails, particularly Tihar, meet international human-rights standards. But with courts abroad flagging prison conditions as grounds to deny extraditions, such on-ground inspections are being seen as critical to bolster India’s legal position.

Notably, the ED regularly follows up on extradition proceedings in cases involving high-profile fugitive economic offenders who have evaded the process of law in India by staying outside the jurisdiction of Indian Courts.

As of now, a total of 44 extradition requests have been sent to various countries in respect of 36 individuals, while 27 red notices have been published on ED’s request to track the economic offenders.