Paedophilia accused seeks to set off sentence over 1 year in US prison

The Maharashtra government has opposed the application filed by Allan Waters, convicted for sexually abusing boys of a shelter home, seeking that one year which he spent in a US prison be set off against his sentence here.

This is the first time the Bombay high court will decide if a convict can be given set-off period for the time spent in jail outside India. 

The affidavit filed through additional public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh states that the convict can claim set-off under section 428 of the Criminal Procedure Code only if he is detained/arrested for either investigation or inquiry during the period of trial.  “When he [Waters] was detained in the US for deciding whether he should be extradited to India, the police were unable to question or interrogate him. Since he was not in our custody, he cannot claim set off,” said Deshmukh.  

Waters had filed the application through his advocate Taraq Sayed seeking that the one year he spent in a US prison be set off against his sentence in Mumbai.

At the time of registering the offence, both Waters and Grant were not in India. A magistrate issued a warrant against Waters on February 21, 2002. Waters was provisionally arrested at the John F Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York, on July 2, 2003.  A UD District Court, Eastern District, NY, tried the extradition application and passed an order on November 24, 2003. Waters was deported to India on September 6, 2004. All the while — one year and two months — Waters was behind bars.