Plea to review decision on Nadeem's extradition

LONDON, JAN. 8. India has appealed to the House of Lords seeking a review of a London High Court decision against the extradition of the Bollywood music director, Mr. Nadeem Akhtar Saifi, to stand trial in the Gulshan Kumar murder case.

``We have filed our appeal before the Admissions Committee of the House of Lords within the stipulated period of 14 days from the date of judgement delivered on December 21.

``We seek a review of the High Court judgement which had upheld Mr. Nadeem's appeal against his extradition ordered earlier by the Bow Street Magistrate's Court,'' a Crown Prosecution source told PTI today.

It might be a couple of months before the appeal comes before the House of Lords Judicial Committee, the source said.

The Indian Government had sought Mr. Nadeem's extradition after he was charged with conspiring to murder the music baron, Gulshan Kumar, in July 1997.

The High Court had directed that Mr. Nadeem be ``discharged forthwith in relation to the offences in respect of which his return is sought by the Union of India.''

The court, under Lord Justice Rose, held that the statement of Mr. Mohammad Ali Shaikh, the key witness in the case, was insufficient and inadmissible under the Britain's Evidence Act.

The court's ruling was made on the premise that he was an uneducated man whose statement was written in Hindi, translated into English and then read out to the court in Hindi.

The court said that the validity of the statement was in doubt, upholding the argument of Mr. Nadeem's counsel, Mr. Clive Nichols.

It said the manner in which Mr. Ali Shaikh was secured as a witness and his confession showed there had been ``a preconceived desire to blame the applicant when no evidence existed'' and ``use of improper pressure to obtain a statement from Mr. Ali Shaikh to make good the allegations.``

- PTI

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