Modi snubbed May concerns on Indian jails, says Sushma

New Delhi: In the context of India's efforts for the extradition of fugitive Vijay Mallya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told his British counterpart Theresa May on the sidelines of the recent Commonwealth Summit that British courts should not comment on the conditions of Indian jails as these were the same jails where the British had imprisoned leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and J.L Nehru before independence, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj revealed on Monday. The comments were made in the context of reports that the British Courts are keen to send a team to inspect the conditions of Indian jails before deciding if Mr. Mallya can be extradited to India or not. An unhappy Mr Modi also told his British counterpart that whenever Indian fugitives take shelter in Britain, it takes a lot of time to extradite them to India.

“When fugitives from India arrive here (in Britain), it takes a lot of time to send them back to India. But your courts have raised this issue in the Mallya case that they want to inspect Indian jails, so I want to tell you that these are the same jails where you had imprisoned Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and other top leaders, it is not right on the part of your courts now to raise questions about these same jails,” PM Modi was quoted as telling the British PM.

The comments highlight India's unhappiness at what it perceives are unjust obstacles in its efforts to extradite Mallya.