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EU court refuses Sanjeev Chawla bid to block extradition
Chawla, who exhausted legal options in the UK, had approached the ECHR seeking the measure before a full hearing of his case. He had mentioned alleged risk to his human rights, if sent to India.
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday refused suspected cricket bookie Sanjeev Chawla’s application for an interim measure to block his extradition to India, which has been cleared by UK courts and the home secretary.
Chawla, who exhausted legal options in the UK, had approached the ECHR seeking the measure before a full hearing of his case. He had mentioned alleged risk to his human rights, if sent to India.
An ECHR spokesperson said on Thursday: “In relation to Mr Sanjeev Chawla interim measure request, we can now confirm that his request has been refused by the Court”.
The refusal makes it more likely that Chawla will now be taken to India by a team of the Delhi police later this month to be lodged in Tihar Jail and face charges of match fixing during South Africa’s cricket tour of India in 2000.
Chawla faces extradition within 28 days of the judgement of the high court of England and Wales that refused him permission to appeal against extradition on January 23.
In London, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State signed the order for Sanjeev Chawla’s extradition to India in February 2019. He has now exhausted his rights to appeal. Once the final orders from the court have been received, arrangements will be made for his extradition to take place within 28 days.”
In the UK high court, Chawla’s team sought to adduce fresh evidence in the UK court: one, a newspaper article indicating that the Indian authorities intended to demolish jails one, two and three in Tihar and build a multi-level prison; two, newspaper reports on prison conditions.
Thirdly, his lawyers cited a report of March 30, 2019, described as an expert legal opinion, by one Gupta who had been a legal adviser for the Officer of the Director General, Delhi Jails until his retirement in 2017.
The fourth was a document bearing dates in April 2000 which is an application by one of Chawla’s co-accused to the Magistrates’ Court in Delhi for directions to the police about the conduct of the investigation.
India-born Chawla moved to the United Kingdom in 1996. An extradition warrant was obtained pursuant to an affidavit sworn before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in New Delhi on February 27, 2015.
A request that Chawla be extradited was made by the Indian government on February 1, 2016 and it certified by the Home secretary March 11, 2016, the judgment noted.
