New Delhi: The Indian Government on Saturday gave a virtual go-ahead to the extradition of NRI Maninder Pal Singh Kohli to Britain in a case relating to the rape and murder of British teenager Hannah Foster, when it told a Delhi court that there was a prima facie case against Kohli.
The government said it favoured his extradition to the UK for facing the trial.
The Ministry of External Affairs said he was a "fugitive criminal" and his conduct of fleeing from one place to another to avoid prosecution made the case fit to extradite him to the country where he allegedly committed the crime.
MEA's counsel AK Vali and Navin Kumar Matta submitted before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau that the conduct of the fugitive criminal in fleeing from one place to another clearly establishes a prima facie case against him warranting his trial in the UK.
The ACMM has now posted the matter for May 14 as Kohli will respond to the stand taken by MEA on the request of its British
counterpart. Earlier, the court had posted the matter for Saturday for its final order.
The court said the matter has to be heard on the next date as some more clarification was required. However, it was not known as to what clarification the court wanted to have from MEA.
Kohli is in custody for over two-and-a-half years after his arrest on July 14, 2004 at Kalimpong in West Bengal. Opposing the extradition proceedings, which began in September 2004, Kohli had said that he was merely a suspect in the case.
Kohli is charged with the rape and murder of 17-year-old British girl Hannah Foster and had fled to India from UK two days after the victim's body was found.
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