New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Monday refused to grant interim bail to a French woman facing extradition to Chile for her alleged participation in the assassination of Chilean senator Jaime Guzman Errazuriz on April 1, 1991.
Vacation judge Justice R K Gauba did not pass any interim order, saying the matter has to be heard by the regular bench which was also hearing Verhoeven Marie Emmanuelle's plea challenging her arrest in February this year, pursuant to a red-corner notice issued against her by the Interpol.
55-year-old Verhoeven, a French national, was arrested on February 17 in Uttar Pradesh while she was entering India from Nepal.
Appearing for her, senior advocate A S Chandhiok sought that bail be granted as CBI has already carried out verification of the addresses of the people who would stand surety for her as well as the place where she would be staying.
CBI had carried out the verification on the court's direction of June 10.
Chandhiok, who was also assisted by advocate Ramni Taneja, argued that on the date of her arrest in February this year, there was no extradition treaty between the Indian and Chilean governments.
But on April 28, the External Affairs Ministry by way of a notification validated a 118-year-old extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and Chile, which when signed in 1897 was applicable to all British colonies including India, he said.
While questioning the reason for validating the treaty, he also argued that it was signed between UK and Chile and not with Republic of India.
Chandhiok also said the red-corner notice issued against Verhoeven had been recalled by Interpol on May 30 and sought that the woman be enlarged on bail till the next date of hearing on June 29.
Extradition proceedings were initiated against her on the request of the Chilean government which had alleged that she had participated in a conspiracy to commit a terror attack which had led to the death of senator Errazuriz.
In her plea opposing the extradition proceedings, she has contended that the treaty was ultra vires to the Constitution.
She also opposed the allegations of the Chilean government, saying she was falsely implicated in the case due to political vendetta claiming that she was a "member of the Latin American Economic and Social Committee and had participated in special human rights missions".
She also claimed she was an "officer of the prison administration in Chile as an assistant to the National Directorate" while she was staying there from 1985 to 1995.
In her plea, she has said that pursuant to the red-corner notice, she was apprehended in Germany on January 25, 2014, and kept in pre-trial detention.
The German court had, however, rejected the extradition request of Chile after which she came here on a valid Indian visa, but was arrested in Uttar Pradesh on the basis of the red-corner notice, her plea challenging the treaty said.
