To catch an offender

The United Arab Emirates has long been the refuge of scoundrels of every description, from criminal syndicates to militant outfits. It is not just a Dawood Ibrahim who switched operations smoothly from Bombay to Dubai once he turned a fugitive. There are at least another 29 who have used the Emirates as their pied-a-terre in situations when the going got rough for them. The evidence is stark: Babloo Srivastav is ensconced in a Lucknow jail but his close associate, Sanjay Khanna, has also made Dubai his base and now ably assists Srivastav in working out the right ransom amounts in kidnapping cases. While Dawood Ibrahim has moved to Karachi, his front man Abu Salem is still alive and well in Dubai, and plotting to eliminate Ibrahim8217;s rivals in crime. Then there is the notorious Chota Rajan, one of Mumbai8217;s most dreaded sons, who has wreaked more havoc in the city through remote control than that famous remote control-wielding politician.

But it is not just the hardened Mafiosi, the Chota Rajans and TigerMemoms, who have had a free run of these Arab states. The once-respectable Win Chaddha, one of the linchpins of the Bofors8217; kickbacks deal, found it opportune to move lock, stock, and barrel, with son in tow, to Dubai, thereby placing himself strategically beyond the long arm of the CBI. But the long reprieve that Chaddha won for himself may now be history. The extradition treaty that India signed with the UAE on Monday, which would come into effect with retrospective effect, is guaranteed to make the lives of the Dubai desperadoes a lot more difficult because it provides a much needed legal framework under which the extradition of terrorists or economic offenders is expedited. As the official statement that emerged from the treaty underlined, the agreement 8220;aims to improve the effectiveness of both the countries in the investigation, prosecution and suppression of crimes8221;.

But signing treaties, important though such activity is, is only the first step. Experience has proved that treaties are just a deadletter if life is not breathed into them. It is always a tricky business to extradite those who presumably enjoy some degree of support in their country of adoption.

This is why sound bureaucratic bonding between the two nations that have entered into such an agreement becomes an important condition in enabling such a treaty. There is also a need to enter into more agreements of this kind. At present, India has extradition treaties with some 20 countries just about one-tenth of the world8217;s nations. This comes as a big disadvantage in ensuring that justice is done in numerous criminal cases in this country. Some years back, a paedophilic ring operating in Goa and involving the so-called social worker Freddie Peats was busted. While Peats himself was arrested, many of his associates in crime, who came from places like Australia and Sweden, could make a clean getaway, with the Indian law-enforcing agencies rendered totally helpless in bringing them to book because the country did not have extraditiontreaties with either Sweden or Australia.