UK court rules no 'real risk' in Tihar Jail to extradition of alleged bookie Chawla

Agencies
November 17, 2018

London, Nov 17: The UK High Court on Friday quashed a lower court's order against extraditing alleged bookie Sanjeev Kumar Chawla to India and directed the District Judge to re-start extradition proceedings against him after being convinced with the assurances by the Indian government on the safety of prison conditions in New Delhi's Tihar jail.

Chawla, a key accused in the cricket match-fixing scandal involving former South African captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, had won his case against extradition to India last year after the Westminster Magistrates' Court here concluded there was a prima facie case to answer but his human rights could not be guaranteed in Tihar jail, where he was to be held.

The High Court ruled that it is convinced with the assurances provided by the Indian government regarding the safety of prison conditions in New Delhi's Tihar jail as it quashed the lower court's order against extraditing the 50-year-old.

In a judgment handed down in the Royal Courts of Justice here, Lord Justice Leggatt and Justice Dingemans upheld the Indian government's appeal against that order and directed the District Judge to re-start extradition proceedings against Chawla.

The judges noted that a third assurance, provided by the Joint Secretary to the Government of India in June, promises the accused of accommodation in a cell to be occupied exclusively by him, with proper "safety and security" and complying with the "personal space and hygiene requirements" the court expects.

It also makes further guarantees on medical facilities and protection from intra-prisoner violence in the jail.

"In these circumstances, having regard to all of the information available to this Court about Tihar prisons, the terms of the third assurance (which was not before the District Judge) are sufficient to show that there will be no real risk that Mr Chawla will be subjected to impermissible treatment in Tihar prisons," the High Court judgment concludes.

In an earlier ruling in May, the High Court sought these further assurances from India before making a final decision on the government's appeal in the case.

"The effect of the successful appeal is that the order of the District Judge to discharge Mr Chawla has been quashed, with the case being remitted back to the District Judge to proceed as she should have done," noted a statement from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represented the Indian government in the case.

A date for a fresh hearing in the case will now be set by Westminster Magistrates' Court in coming months.

The CPS had argued that the October 2017 ruling by the magistrates' court reflected a complete disregard of the "solemn diplomatic assurance" by India that Chawla will be treated within internationally-accepted norms for prison conditions.

The defence team, on the other hand, argued that District Judge Rebecca Crane had been right in turning down the extradition request on human rights ground.

"India is a mature and solid democracy, with which we have had a strong extradition relationship," noted CPS barrister Mark Summers, who is the barrister representing the Indian government in another high-profile extradition case that of liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Mallya, wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges amounting to nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has denied the allegations and disputed the jail conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai as part of his defence. A verdict in his case is expected next month at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

In Chawla's case, District Judge Crane's judgment dated October 16, 2017, had accepted a prima facie case against Chawla over his role in the fixing of "cricket matches played between India and South Africa during the tour of the South African Cricket Team to India under the captainship of Hansie Cronje in February-March 2000".

However, on hearing expert evidence from Dr Alan Mitchell, a licensed medical practitioner and a former medical officer with the Scottish prison system, she ruled in favour of Chawla on the grounds that his human rights would be violated in Tihar jail under Section 87, Article 3, relating to "prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment".

Mallya's defence team has also argued that India's jail cells are "far from satisfactory" and used the same UK prisons expert as Chawla's team, Dr Alan Mitchell, to back up their claims.

According to court documents in the Chawla extradition case, the Delhi-born businessman had moved to the UK on a business visa in 1996, where he has been based while making trips back and forth to India.

After his Indian passport was revoked in 2000, the 50-year-old obtained a UK passport in 2005 and is now a British citizen.

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News Network
May 21,2020

London, May 21: Working mothers in Europe and the United States are taking on most of the extra housework and childcare created by lockdown - and many are struggling to cope, a survey showed on Thursday.

Women with children now spend an average 65 hours a week on the unpaid chores - nearly a third more than fathers - according to the Boston Consulting Group, which questioned parents in five countries.

"Women have been doing too much household work for too long, and this crisis is pushing them to a point that's simply unsustainable," Rachel Thomas, of U.S.-based women's rights group LeanIn.Org, said in response to the data.

"We need a major culture shift in our homes and in our companies ... We should use this moment to build a better way to work and live – one that's fair for everybody."

Researchers say fallout from the pandemic weighs on women in a host of ways, be it in rising domestic violence or in lower wages, as some women cut paid work to take on the new duties.

With lockdowns shutting schools and keeping citizens at home, creating a mountain of domestic work, public campaigns from Georgia to Mexico have urged men to do their fair share.

But women, who on average already do more at home than men, are now shouldering most of the new coronavirus burden, too, said the survey of more than 3,000 working parents in the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

Women's unpaid hours at home have nearly doubled to 65 hours a week, said the survey, against 50 logged by an average father.

British women are more likely to support others in the COVID-19 pandemic and are finding it harder to stay positive, according to separate analysis released this week by polling firm Ipsos MORI and feminist organisation The Fawcett Society.

It is "no surprise" to see women do more childcare and housekeeping on top of their day jobs, Jacqui Hunt of women's rights group Equality Now, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

However, there are "hopeful signs" that men in West Africa are sharing more childcare during the pandemic in a shift in social norms, found a small rapid analysis by humanitarian organisation CARE International released on Wednesday.

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Agencies
April 17,2020

Washington, Apr 17: A record number of 4,591 Americans have died in the last 24 hours due to the deadly novel coronavirus in the US, which has the highest number of COVID-19 casualties in the world.

According to the Johns Hopkins University data, by 8 pm on Thursday, as many as 4,591 Americans have died in the last 24 hours, The Wall Street Journal said.

The previous highest was 2,569 on Wednesday.

By Thursday, more than 662,000 Americans tested positive with the coronavirus.

The dreaded disease, which originated in Wuhan city in China in December last year, has so far claimed more than 144,000 lives and infected over 2.1 million people.

The virus has infected over 671,000 people and claimed more than 33,000 lives, the highest for any country in the world.

New York City and its adjoining areas, including New Jersey and Connecticut have emerged as the epicenter of the virus in the US.

New York alone accounts for 226,000 cases of infections and 16,106 deaths.

In New Jersey, as many as 3,518 people have died of the disease and 75,317 have tested positive.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, till April 14, four per cent of the Americans infected with COVID-19 were of Asian origin and nearly one-third (30 per cent) were African Americans.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that experts and scientists report that his strategy to slow the spread of the virus has saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Models predicted between 1.5 million and 2.2 million US deaths. If there was no mitigation, it could have even been higher than that and between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths with mitigation. It is looking like we will come far under even these lowest numbers, he said.

Noting that experts say the curve of the virus has flattened, and the peak in the new cases has passed, Trump said that nationwide, more than 850 counties or nearly 30 per cent of the country have reported no new cases in the last seven days.

Because of our early and aggressive action, we have avoided the tragedy of health care rationing and deadly shortfalls that have befallen in many other nations, nations which wherever possible we are helping, he said.

According to Trump, at least 35 clinical trials are already underway, including antiviral therapies, immune therapies, and blood therapies in the form of convalescent plasma. So far, more than 3.5 million tests have been carried out.

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News Network
June 23,2020

New Delhi, Jun 23: The meeting between Indian Army's 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart got over after around 11 hours, sources said.

"Today's meeting between the Corps Commander-level officers of India and China is over. The meeting which started at 11:30 am went on for around 11 hours. More details awaited," sources said.

The meeting started at around 11:30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chushul to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh sector due to Chinese military build-up, the sources said.

This is the second meeting between the two corps commanders. They had met on June 6 and had agreed to disengage at multiple locations. India had asked the Chinese side to go back to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC.

The Chinese side had not given any response to the Indian proposal and not even shown intent on the ground to withdraw troops from rear positions where they have amassed over 10,000 troops.

India is also likely to discuss the change in rules of engagement on the LAC where the forces have been empowered to use firearms in extraordinary circumstances, sources had said.

They said India will also ask China to honour the commitment given during June 6 talks to disengage in the Galwan valley completely and other places.

The build-up of Chinese air assets including strategic bombers by the PLA Air Force in fields near Indian territory close to Ladakh is also likely to figure in discussions.

India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing border tensions since last month.

However, last week as many as 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the face-off in the Galwan Valley after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.

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