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Mumbai court cancels open warrant against Kumar Pillai; cites section 21 of Extradition Act

The court had on Monday cancelled an open warrant issued by it in January against Pillai in a murder case pending from 2007.

2 min readMumbaiFeb 25, 2026 02:44 PM IST

The court said that as per the extradition rules, Pillai cannot be tried for cases for which approval has not been taken. (file)

In the detailed order cancelling the open warrant issued against Kumar Pillai, the court has said that the police was aware of the pending case in which the warrant was issued but no efforts were taken to add it to the cases he can be tried for as per the Extradition Act.

The court had on Monday cancelled an open warrant issued by it in January against Pillai in a murder case pending from 2007. Pillai, a Hong Kong national, was brought to India from Singapore in 2016, for trial in three pending cases. He has since been acquitted in all three cases and a special court last week ordered for him to be repatriated back. Another court however had issued an open warrant against him, after the police submitted that they want to approach authorities abroad to add the pending case.

“The prosecution had knowledge of the pending case at Sr. No. 6 and the extradition of the applicant in the cases at Sr. No. 1 to 3, but no efforts seems to have been taken to obtain the consent of the Foreign State as per the provision of section 21 (c) of the Extradition Act, in respect of trial of the applicant for offence described at Sr.No.6 since 2016. Admittedly, the other accused against whom the trial described at Sr.No.6 was conducted, have been acquitted on merits,” special judge R B Rote said.

The court said that as per the extradition rules, Pillai cannot be tried for cases for which approval has not been taken. “The Extradition Treaty and Extradition Decree needs to be honoured. Therefore, considering legal aspects and the Extradition Decree and facts and circumstances of the case, it is necessary to cancel the Open Dated Arrest Warrant issued against the applicant,” the court said.

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