The findings of the Extradition Magistrate in an extradition inquiry report are merely prima facie in nature and do not determine the innocence or guilt of the fugitive criminal.

( 1 ) RULE DB. With the consent of the learned counsel for the parties, the writ petition is taken up for hearing.

( 2 ) THIS writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the constitution of India challenges the Extradition Enquiry Report dated 8th June, 2007 under Section 7 (4) of the Extradition Act, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi who is the extradition Magistrate appointed under the Act. Section 7 (4) of the Act reads as follows:-

"7. Procedure before Magistrate.--- (4) If the Magistrate is of opinion that a prima facie case is made out in support of the requisition of the foreign State, he may commit the fugitive criminal to prison to await the orders of the Central Government and shall report the result of his inquiry to the Central Government, and shall forward together with such report, and written statement which the fugitive criminal may desire to submit for the consideration of the Central Government. "

( 3 ) THE extradition of the petitioner was demanded by the government of U. K. on the allegation of kidnapping, rape and murder of Miss hannah Foster by him in England on the intervening night of 14th and 15th March, 2003.

( 4 ) THE principal and indeed the only plea raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner Shri Charanjit Singh Bakshi is that the findings recorded by the Extradition Magistrate under Section 7 (4) of the Act far from being prima facie findings, in fact conclusively indict the petitioner for the aforesaid offences and thus run counter to the position of law laid down by the division Bench of this Court in Smt. Nina Pillai and others vs. Union of India and others, 1997 CRL. L. J. 2358 and in particular the position of law formulated in paragraph 11 thereof which reads as follows:-

"we may notice here that upon receiving information with sufficient particulars from a requesting State that a fugitive criminal is wanted for any alleged offence committed in the requesting State or for undergoing trial or sentence, the Central Government passes an order under Section 5 of the Act, appointing a magistrate

to inquire into the case. The Criminal Procedure Code also provides for the arrest of a person without warrant who is concerned in any cognizable offence or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information has been received or a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been so concerned in the offence, under Section 41 of the Code. Accordingly, on credible information being received from a requesting State, with sufficient particulars, about a person having been involved in any offence, the said person could be arrested in India without warrant. It is now fairly well-settled that the Magisterial inquiry which is conducted pursuant to the request for extradition is not a trial. The said enquiry decides nothing about the innocence or guilt of the fugitive criminal. The main purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether there is a prima facie case or reasonable grounds which warrant the fugitive criminal being sent to the demanding State. The jurisdiction is limited to the former part of the request and does not concern itself with the merits of the trial, subject to exceptions, as outlined in the preceding paragraph 7, in which case the request for extradition is denied by the Central Government. "

( 5 ) THE learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that in this inquiry the petitioner had no chance of rebutting the material produced by the Union of India and the U. K. Government and has not had the right to cross examine any of witnesses whose statements were forwarded by the U. K. Government. In particular, he has pointed out the following findings recorded by the extradition Magistrate, which according to him cannot be said to be based on a prima facie view of the matter:-

"that the deceased/victim Hannah Claire Foster was a girl of only 17 years of age at the time when she was kid