HC rejects Mancic's plea to stay in Goa

HC rejects Mancic's plea to stay in Goa
Preetu Nair, TNN

PANAJI: With the high court of Bombay at Goa rejecting Polish national Adam Mancic's plea that he shouldn't be removed from the state, he will be
taken to Delhi for extradition soon, crime branch sources have said.

Vacation judge U D Salvi observed on Wednesday that "the right of the petitioner to contest the request of extradition has not been taken away by the state". "As a matter of fact, the production of the petitioner before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate, New Delhi, will enable the petitioner to effectively agitate his right to contest the extradition request," observed the judge.

Mancic was arrested in Goa after a warrant was issued against him by the Tiergarten magistrate, Germany, for shooting dead a businessman in Germany on November 3, 2008. The arrest warrant was issued through Interpol.

Mancic had subsequently, approached the high court for interim relief with a prayer that his detention by the state government, which was beyond a period of 60 days, was in breach of Article 14 (4) of the extradition treaty between the Republic of India and the Federal Republic of Germany and was illegal and therefore, he deserved to be protected in terms of requiring an embargo on his movement in Goa.

His counsel, K Paulekar submitted that the breach of the said Article comes into being as the petitioner had been detained in custody for over a period of 60 days and the state government had not received the request for extradition and documents specified in Article 12 of the extradition treaty.

Public prosecutor C A Ferreira however, argued that the order dated May 5, 2009, passed by the Government of India, required the production of Mancic before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate, New Delhi for contesting the request made by the government under section 15 of the Extradition Act, 1962.

He also pointed to the petitioner's criminal background and said that it is the obligation of the government to initiate action under the Extradition Act to extradite the petitioner to the country were he has to stand trial for the commission of an offence of murder.

After hearing both sides, the judge observed that it would be too hasty to conclude that the Government of India had not received a request for extradition along with the documents specified in Article 12 of the extradition treaty.

May 14,2009, The Times of India, Goa edition