)
The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday restrained the state CID officials from acting upon the Red Corner notice issued by the Interpol seeking provisional arrest of Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao in a bribery case framed in the United States.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had forwarded the request of the Interpol to CID Additional Director General Krishna Prasad on April 25.
While the CID was waiting for a clarification it had sought in the absence of the requisite warrants from the CBI to effect his arrest, Rao filed a petition in the AP High Court challenging the notice.
The petitioner argued that neither the law enforcing agencies in India nor in the US or in any of the courts in both the countries had initiated any proceedings against him leading to the issuance of the Red Corner notice.
Hearing the petition, Justice N Rammohan Rao observed that the request for provisional arrest of the petitioner without a warrant and documents related to his alleged indictment was not legally valid. Citing the previous judgements of the Supreme Court, the Judge said the very extradition proceedings were open to judicial review as any such move had to conform to the laws of the land.
Earlier government pleader K Janakiram Reddy informed the court that the CID had sought clarification from the CBI as the request for the MP's arrest had not been accompanied by the requisite arrest warrants. He submitted the copies of the Red Corner Notice and the letter written to the CBI by the head of the state CID department.
Presenting his arguments before the court, Rao's advocate SS Prasad said there were no grounds to seek provisional arrest of his client as the extradition laws speak about such steps only related to fugitive criminals involved in the acts of terrorism and trafficking of drugs women and children.
While restraining the state agencies from acting any further in this regard, the court has made Government of India and the CBI a party in the case.
According to the court directions, both the Centre and the CBI will have to file counter affidavits in this case and no action can be initiated against the MP without the permission of the court even if the warrants are issued for his arrest, said the government pleader.
Bribery charges were framed against Rao, who was a close aide of then chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in a titanium mining project deal cleared by the state government in 2006. The FBI named Rao and five others, including Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian businessman who controls Group DF that owns Bothli Trade AG, and Periyasamy Sunderalingam of Sri Lanka, who is an authorised signatory on behalf of Bothli Trade for the above agreement.
“Rao allegedly solicited bribes for himself and others in return for approving licenses for the project and warned other defendants concerning the threat of a possible law enforcement investigation on the project,” a US attorney office said earlier this month.
