In a major setback to the CBI, the case against Ravi
Shankaran, key accused in the naval ‘war room leak’ case, was rejected
by the England and Wales High Court on Tuesday.
In
addition, the judges, Lord Brian Leveson and Mr. Justice Blake, ordered
the CBI to pay Shankaran Rs. 1 crore in legal costs. They said there was
no prima facie case against him.
Shankaran
had appealed to the High Court after an extradition order passed by Home
Secretary Theresa May in May 2013. The order came after the decisions
of District Judge Nicholas Evans at the Westminster Magistrates Court in
December 2011 and again in March 2013.
Tuesday’s High Court order overrules both Judge Evans’ ruling and the extradition order.
The judges re-examined the evidence to establish if a prima facie case existed for extradition.
Concluding
his ruling, Justice Lord Leveson said: “For the sake of completeness
and in deference to the comprehensive arguments that have been advanced
on this appeal, each of the grounds has been considered. In the event, I
would allow this appeal on the sole ground that the District Judge
failed properly to re-evaluate the admissibility of the third (and only
operative) hearsay statement attributed to Kushwaha against the further
evidence advanced on behalf of the appellant. Performing that exercise
with due regard to the provisions of s. 84 of the Extradition Act 2003, I
have little doubt that it should not have been admitted as the only
evidence linking the Vic Branson email to the appellant. Without that
link, the prima facie case that must be established collapses.”
The
judges also remarked on the “sluggish pace” at which the proceedings
had moved in India. “It took around six years [from initial arrest in
April 2006 until an appellate decision of the Indian courts dated 11 May
2012] for the other Indian defendants to secure bail. As at that date,
the documentary basis of the case… had still not been disclosed,” the
ruling states.
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