AD ELHI court on Monday granted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) two days’ transit remand of Sourabh Chandrakar, alleged mastermind of the Mahadev Online Book betting syndicate, while leaving unresolved a legal challenge over whether his extradition from Oman permits prosecution in the CBI case. Principal District and Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge Nikhil Chopra at Rouse Avenue Courts directed that Chandrakar be produced before the Special CBI Judge in Raipur by November 4. His lawyers opposed the request, arguing that Oman had surrendered him specifically for money-laundering proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). ‘The Hitavada’ accessed the eight-page order dated November 2, which records that Chandrakar was arrested at 7.35 pm on November 1 and produced in Delhi around 11.45 am on Monday. The CBI sought transit remand because he could not be produced before the Raipur court within the statutory period. Advocate Tushar Giri, appearing for Chandrakar, told reporters after the hearing: “Our main contention was that he has been extradited only for the offense of money laundering and not for the offenses as are mentioned in the CBI charge sheet.” He maintained that the CBI arrest violated the doctrine of speciality governing extradition. The defence invoked Section 21 of the Extradition Act and the October 8 decision of the Muscat Court of Appeal.

 

It argued that the Indian request approved by Oman concerned ED case RPZO/10/2022, not the CBI prosecution, and challenged both the arrest and proposed transfer. CBI prosecutors countered that the agency had also sought extradition and that the Raipur court had issued outstanding non-bailable warrants. They questioned the authenticity of the Omani judgment copy submitted by the defence, arguing that the ED proceedings arose from the scheduled offences and that the jurisdictional objections belonged before the Raipur court. The agency maintained that transit remand was sought only to secure his production before the court already seized of the prosecution, not to adjudicate the substantive underlying charges. Judge Chopra acknowledged the doctrine of speciality but held that its application, including statutory exceptions, could not be decided during transit-remand proceedings. The Raipur Special Judge, he ruled, was competent to determine whether Chandrakar could be tried or punished in the CBI case. The order also records completion of his medical examination and intimation of his arrest to his wife. A senior Indian Police Service officer (IPS) at Chhattisgarh Police Headquarters (PHQ), sharing his observations on the case with this newspaper reporter on condition of anonymity, said: “Chandrakar’s return places him before the Indian judicial process, but the objection concerning the scope of extradition remains to be examined. The Raipur court will have to consider the relevant documents and the defence submissions before determining how the CBI proceedings can move forward.”