CBI may appeal against UK court's rejection of war leak accused's extradition

NEW DELHI: Two days after a British court rejected extradition of Ravi Shankaran, key accused in the naval war room leak case, CBI's lawyers in United Kingdom have advised against appeal as "it wouldn't be fruitful", agency sources said.
Agency officers, however, said despite the advice of their lawyers' in UK's Crown Prosecution Service not to go for appeal, they would study the order and take a call after consulting legal experts in India.
The CBI has received the copy of order and a team of investigators are studying it along with legal experts. The agency has 14 days to go on appeal against the court's decision.
A high court bench had ruled on Tuesday that "prima facie there is no case against Ravi Shankaran".
The court had pulled up the agency, saying trial had not commenced in India till date though the case was filed in June, 2006.
The British court said it seemed like India no longer felt there was credible and admissible evidence against the accused. The court said it was CBI's duty to end the proceedings and withdraw the extradition request.
UK's Crown Prosecution Service had argued that the CBI had substantial evidence pointing to Shankaran's active role in leaking Indian war room secrets to arms dealers and hence he deserved to be extradited to India.
UK home secretary Theresa May had signed the official orders for 47-year-old Shankaran's extradition to India, giving him 14 days to appeal against the order. Shankaran had then challenged the order in the high court.
CBI has been trying to get its hands on Shankaran since 2007. Shankaran had argued that his rights were at a real risk of being abused due to the delays in the Indian judicial system and hence he should not be extradited. The home office had said, "Shankaran is accused of industrial espionage under the Indian Official Secrets Act." Last March, the Westminster Magistrates Court in London had cleared Shankaran's extradition to India.
Shankaran, a relative of former navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, had gone absconding after the CBI registered the war room leak case in 2006. Arrested by the UK authorities in April 2010, he is currently out on conditional bail.