HC seeks report on extradition of man who killed music baron

The Bombay high court has sought a report from the ministry of external affairs about the efforts it is making to bring the man convicted for the murder of music baron Gulshan Kumar in 1997 — who is currently in a jail in Bangladesh — back to the city.

The Bombay high court has sought a report from the ministry of external affairs about the efforts it is making to bring the man convicted for the murder of music baron Gulshan Kumar in 1997 — who is currently in a jail in Bangladesh — back to the city.

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The convict had gone missing and was later arrested by Dhaka authorities for having invalid documents, said additional public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh.

A division bench of justice NH Patil and justice AR Joshi has given the central government four weeks to file its report.

Earlier, the Mumbai police commissioner had informed the high court that the state government had forwarded an application to the central government for initiating extradition proceedings of the missing convict.

In July 2010, the government had told the court that the police commissioner had shown no interest in filing a report or communicating with the prosecutor's office on the progress regarding arresting and bringing back Abdul Rauf Merchant to the city.

The HC had earlier directed the Mumbai police commissioner to arrest Merchant and had also set a deadline for the same.

The Mumbai police crime branch, meanwhile, had said they had approached the Interpol wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation to trace and bring back Merchant.

The court was hearing an appeal against the conviction filed by Merchant as well as the state’s appeal against the acquittal of 16 other accused in the case.