British home secretary Sajid Javid has signed the order for PIO bookie Sanjeev Kumar Chawla to be extradited to India.
The 52-year-old former Indian national, who has since taken British citizenship, stands accused of being directly involved in the Hansie Cronje cricket match-fixing scandal of 2000.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ¡°On 27 February 2019, the secretary of state, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Sanjeev Chawla¡¯s extradition to India. Sanjeev Chawla is accused in India of match fixing in international cricket.¡±
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Chawla now has 14 days to apply for leave to appeal in the administrative court of the high court. His lawyers Bindmanns LLP could not be reached for comment.
The high court had ruled in Nov 2018 that there was no risk of Chawla being subjected to impermissible treatment in Tihar jail, and quashed a lower court¡¯s judgment to discharge him on the basis that his human rights would be breached in an Indian jail. On Jan 7, 2019, district judge Rebecca Crane sent Chawla¡¯s case to Javid to order Chawla¡¯s extradition.
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Javid¡¯s decision to order extradition comes just four weeks after he signed the order for Vijay Mallya¡¯s extradition.
Mallya on Feb 14 applied for leave to appeal that decision in the high court. A member of staff from the administrative court office told TOI on Friday: ¡°As of yet, Vijay Mallay¡¯s application for leave to appeal has not been yet allocated to a judge. It could be six months before any decision is reached.¡±
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Chawla was born in Delhi and lived in India until 1996 when he moved to the UK on a business visa. His Indian passport was revoked in 2000. He was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2003 and obtained a UK passport in 2005. He is now a British citizen.