Sanjeev Chawla refused permission to appeal against extradition order

At the close of a half day hearing last Thursday 16 January, the High Court refused to grant Sanjeev Chawla permission to appeal against an order for his extradition to India. Mr Chawla, who was born in Delhi, became a British citizen in 2005. He is sought by the Indian authorities to face charges of cricket match fixing, dating back to 2000.

The Indian authorities’ first attempt to extradite Mr Chawla, in 2016, was refused by the Magistrates’ Court on human rights grounds. The judgment was appealed to the High Court and in November 2018 that appeal was allowed on the grounds that assurances from the Indian government were sufficient to show that, if extradited, Mr Chawla would be at no real risk of impermissible treatment. The matter was then remitted to the Magistrates’ Court and extradition was ordered. In February 2019, the order was signed off by then Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Pursuant to the India-UK Extradition Treaty it is expected that the Home Office will certify this most recent order and Mr Chawla will be extradited to India within 28 days.