Extradition to India Found to be Inhuman and Degrading

On 2 July 2019, Senior District Judge Arbuthnot discharged Ms Arti Dhir and Mr Kaval Raijada from an extradition request issued by the Government of India as extradition would breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against inhumane sentences. The requested persons are wanted by India to face trial for conspiracy to murder.

SDJ Arbuthnot found that “It has long been accepted that there cannot be one rule in this jurisdiction and a separate rule for extradition to another. If it would be an inhumane sentence – whole life sentence without any possibility of review – here, it would be same in the other jurisdiction.” SDJ Arbuthnot concluded that “there is no possibility of a review either at state level [Gujarat] or by the President of India, in those circumstances, there will be no ‘hope’ or the possibility of exceptional release.”

SDJ Arbuthnot discharged the requested persons finding “substantial grounds for believing that they would face a real risk of being subject to treatment, a lack of a review of a life sentence, which would be inhuman and degrading”.

 Read more: Times of India, https://cutt.ly/IbUn3L