30 Indian fugitives were located abroad in 2022: govt. Report

Subject: Polity

Section: National body

Context:

As many as 278 fugitives wanted in other countries were located in India in 2022, says the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), 2022-23 annual report.
Interpol shared 304 reports on “foreign terrorist fighters” with the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) in 2022.
The reports received by the CBI are forwarded to the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) under the Intelligence Bureau and the National Investigation Agency(NIA).

About Multi-Agency Centre (MAC)

It is a common counter-terrorism grid under the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that was made operational in 2001 post-Kargil war.
It is a nodal establishment for sharing intelligence inputs among various agencies.
It is located in Delhi while state capitals have subsidiary MACs (SMACs) where daily meetings are held to analyse inputs received in the previous 24 hours.
There is also a focussed group meeting of the MAC where specific information on a specific theatre is discussed where only concerned agencies participate.
All organisations that are in any way involved in the counter-terrorism effort are a member of this centre.
- All the States have a subsidiary multi-agency centre (SMAC) located in all State capitals.
Coverage:
- As many as 28 organisations, including the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), armed forces and State police are part of the platform and various security agencies share real-time intelligence inputs on the MAC.
- There are around 400 secured sites connected with the MAC headquarters.

Fugitive Economic Offender

A fugitive economic offender, according to the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018 (FEO), is one who has committed one or more scheduled crimes involving 100 crore rupees or more and has either fled India or refuses to return in order to evade or face criminal punishment.
The act allows for the confiscation of the properties of fugitive economic offenders and creates a mechanism for their speedy trial. The act aims to tackle economic offenses and prevent financial fraud.

What is Letters Rogatory (LR)?

The term ‘Letters Rogatory’ is derived from the Latin term rogatorius. Letters Rogatory are the letters of request sent by the Court of one country to the Court of another country for obtaining assistance in investigation or prosecution of a criminal matter.

What is Mutual Legal Assistance?

Mutual Legal Assistance is a mechanism whereby countries cooperate with one another in order to provide and obtain formal assistance in prevention, suppression, investigation and prosecution of crime.
This ensures that the criminals do not escape or sabotage the due process of law for want of evidence available in different countries.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is the Central Authority of India for dealing with requests of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
The Central Authority transmits and receives all requests for assistance either directly or through diplomatic channels.
The Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) in criminal matters are the bilateral treaties entered between the countries for providing international cooperation and assistance.