Home minister P Chidambaram has indicated that India may seek extradition of David Coleman Headley, the Lashkar-e-Taiba operative wanted for his role in the Mumbai terror attack.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

But experts say it will be a formidable task to get Headley here to face trial. Chidambaram, being a lawyer himself, probably realises this, but insisted that since India and the US had an extradition treaty, a request would not be out of place.

His staff is examining the plea bargain between Headley and the federal authorities to find out how it will affect application of the extradition and mutual legal assistance treaty.

Experts believe extradition of Headley is near impossible as he is already facing trial in the US and that has to be concluded before any request could be entertained. A noted criminal lawyer said the government had shown its “inadequate knowledge” of the constitutional provisions in the US and India. A confession made by an accused during questioning can’t be used against him in trial.

So, if New Delhi thinks it can haul up Headley on what he has revealed to FBI, it would be indulging in a futile exercise. To make out a case for getting Headley here, the government has to file a fresh FIR that should not be based on his confessions to FBI, the lawyer said.

At the most, New Delhi can send details of the various illegal acts Headley committed in India, but the case has to be watertight. Solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam has counselled the home ministry to make an extradition attempt, irrespective of Headley’s confession of guilt on 12 counts.

But as things stand, the most India can hope for is access for questioning him. Even that is not certain. Washington is keeping the issue open ended. The US is willing to share information gathered from Headley, but it has not yet given the green signal for his interrogation by an Indian team.

“We understand that there’s a lot of information that Headley has that is of great interest to India,” Robert Blake, the US’ assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia, told reporters on Thursday.

“So, obviously, government of India has great interest in anything to do with that. And we have great interest in sharing as much information as we can,” he said.

“We are very much committed to full information sharing,” Blake said. “However, no decision has been made yet on the question of whether they [Indian sleuths] will have direct access to David Headley.”