Mumbai, A court here has cancelled a warrant issued against alleged gangster Kumar Pillai in a 2007 murder case, ruling that trying him for an offence not included in his extradition order would be illegal.
The sessions court pointed out that the prosecution knew about this 2007 case, but took no steps to obtain consent from the foreign state to try him for the offence.
Pillai, a Hong Kong passport-holder, was extradited to India to face trial in three cases following his arrest in Singapore in 2016.
He was acquitted in all the three cases. But he was not allowed to return to Hong Kong, and remained in India without a valid visa. His lawyers then moved the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court, seeking permission for him to go back to Hong Kong.
The crime branch of Mumbai police, in the meantime, moved an application before the sessions court, seeking a warrant against him in the 2007 murder case.
The court issued a warrant last month. Pillai’s lawyer Pankaj Kavale then moved a plea for its cancellation.
While the matter was pending, the special MCOCA court on February 13 ordered police to immediately begin the process to repatriate Pillai.
On Monday, additional sessions judge R B Rote cancelled the warrant.
The sessions court noted that under Section 21 of the Extradition Act, an extradited person cannot be tried for any offence other than the ones for which they were explicitly sent to India.
Indian criminal courts do not have the jurisdiction to try an accused for offences not mentioned in the extradition decree, it said.
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