The Hindu : Is the Quattrocchi case still on course?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 18, 2002

International

International

Is the Quattrocchi case still on course?

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Dec. 17. The sustainability of the Quattrocchi extradition case has become a subject matter of diplomatic speculation and legal conjectures in the context of the latest developments concerning India's efforts to keep the issues at stake on a virtual life-support system.

At one level, the order issued on Monday by Malaysia's Court of Appeal in Kuala Lumpur remains valid, insofar as the counsel for the Italian businessman, Ottavio Quattrocchi, is said to have been given 10 days' time to address the more immediate issue in a suitable manner. The urgent question at stake relates to the Court's order that Mr. Quattrocchi's passport be ``deposited'' with this apex judicial forum ``pending a hearing'' on the appeal against the judgment of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that there was no ground to sanction the extradition of Mr. Quattrocchi to India in connection with the Bofors payoff investigations and trial. The petition was brought before the Court of Appeal by the Malaysian Government's public prosecution which has been acting on behalf of India in the absence of a bilateral extradition treaty.

With Mr. Quattrocchi having left Malaysia before the Court of Appeal could on Monday take cognisance of the petition filed on behalf of India, the order concerning his travel documents assumed the proportions of an ``academic'' matter.

However, the Indian authorities have quickly sought to reactivate the Interpol notice that was, in the first place, put out against Mr. Quattrocchi on the wider international plane. It is this sub-text of India's move that keeps the issue of his passport in focus.

Technically, should Mr. Quattrocchi return to Malaysia in these circumstances, armed as he is with a non-nullified judicial verdict in his favour and against his extradition to India, the Court of Appeal in Kuala Lumpur might be able to process the petition filed at India's behest.

However, a ``stay'' of Mr. Quattrocchi's judicially-reconfirmed ``right to liberty'' has neither been sought before the Court of Appeal nor obtained from it, according to counsel and legal experts conversant with this case.

This aspect of a reality check might still enable Mr. Quattrocchi's counsel to try and convince the Court of Appeal to ``set aside'' its order concerning his passport (with or without his presence in Malaysia). So runs the argument.

As for the substance of the Indian petition before the Court of Appeal, much will depend on its view on the ``finality'' of the High Court's jurisdiction as regards ``review'' cases under Malaysia's Extradition Act of 1992.

India has lost a ``review'' petition against a lower court's refusal to endorse Mr. Quattrocchi's extradition to India.

Diplomats and analysts in the South East Asian region underline the importance of globalisation as an aspect of the overall ambience in which the final judicial word might be pronounced on this case.

In this age of ``business @ the speed of thought'', Malaysia will obviously be eager to sustain its image as a friendly destination for foreign investors from far and wide, while Kuala Lumpur cannot also ignore the sensitivities of its potential partner-states in Asia.

On a different but related plane, Malaysia's own recent experiences of facing the ``high-handed'' attitude of the West in its ``overzealous'' anti-terror campaign might not be all that irrelevant, it is said.

However, the fine print of Malaysia's Extradition Act rather than the international extradition ``practices'' as perceived in New Delhi might hold the key, according to seasoned diplomats in this region.

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