New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday declined to issue any specific directions to the Centre to expedite extradition of a Punjab resident, facing charges of smuggling and selling heroin to raise funds for the Hizbul-Mujahideen, from Portugal, observing the government is making all efforts to secure his presence for the trial.
“They are taking steps, making efforts,” said a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta when it was told that the government had taken steps at various levels to bring accused Iqbal Singh back to India.
The bench was hearing Singh’s brother’s petition that sought a quick return of the accused to India so that he can participate in the criminal trial pending against him in a Mohali court.
Singh is accused of smuggling heroin illegally in an organised manner from Pakistan-based smugglers in large quantities, distributing and selling it in the local markets of Punjab in India. At present, he is in a Portugal jail, serving his five-year-sentence in connection with a case registered there.
In India, Singh is the prime accused in the 2020 drug smuggling case and is accused of hatching an association with the other accused to commit the crime. Probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the case was registered under various sections of the anti-terror law, UAPA, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On Thursday, when the SC bench took up the petition, it was made to peruse the government’s status report that provided details of several letters written by the Centre to the government of Portugal on various occasions. The report assures the court that the Centre, on its part, is making concerted efforts to ensure Singh’s return. However, it does not promise a timeline by which his extradition would take place.
“That the Ministry of External Affairs further affirms this Honorable Court that it is closely monitoring the instant case and stands committed to extending necessary assistance and assures that as and when an update is received in the matter from the concern Portuguese authorities, the same shall be duly informed to this court on the subsequent dates of hearing,” submitted the Ministry of External Affairs’ report placed in the court.
According to the petition, the NIA special judge in Mohali issued an open dated warrant of arrest against Singh in October 2020. The FIR in the case against 13 persons, including Singh was registered in April that year, following the arrest of Pulwama resident Hilal Ahmed Shergojri in Amritsar where he was allegedly supposed to collect the proceeds of sale of heroin from an accomplice.
An Interpol red notice was issued against Singh in June 2021, based on which he was located in Portugal a month later. A year later, in April 2022, a senior NIA officer filed an affidavit before the court in Mohali to request that the government seek his extradition to India. By that time, Singh had been sentenced to five-years imprisonment in Portugal.
On receiving this request, the Centre, in June 2022, wrote thrice to the Portuguese government with regard to Singh’s extradition. While the first was written by the Under Secretary (legal), Ministry of Home Affairs, the second was by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and third by Union Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar. The two central ministers had given an assurance that if convicted on extradition, Singh would not be subjected to imprisonment for a term of more than 25 years in India. This protection was promised in terms of the extradition agreement between the two countries.
A revised extradition request was submitted in July 2022.
Two years later, the Portugal embassy in New Delhi informed the Indian government that Singh was serving his five years and three month-sentence in Portugal where he was undergoing imprisonment owing to domestic charges against him.
Later, in November 2024, the Portugal Embassy informed the Indian government that Singh had requested that he be transferred to India so that he can serve his remaining sentence in an Indian jail. This arrangement was as per the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, of which both Indian and Portugal are signatories.
As a follow up, the Indian Embassy in Portugal requested authorities there to provide necessary documents such as Singh’s health record, his recent photograph and his or relative’s undertaking that they were ready to bear the expenses of his transfer to India. Such a request was put forth twice, once in May and then in November, 2025.
Furthermore, the Indian Embassy has also requested for a meeting with the Portuguese Prosecutor General’s office to discuss and seek an update on Singh’s transfer. However, response to all the three requests is still awaited.
Advocate Abhay Kumar, who filed the petition on behalf of Singh’s brother, said the plea requested SC’s indulgence to speed up the extradition process. “This is because the criminal trial in India has begun and almost fifty percent of the witnesses have been examined. We only want that he is present here at the time of the trial. Because in case he misses it and the same is over by the time he returns, the entire trial would commence afresh vis-à-vis him,” Kumar explained. This would not only waste crucial judicial time, but could even result in a divergent opinion, he submitted.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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