Delhi: PM Modi urges Interpol to speed up Red Corner Notices' process

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged the Interpol to speed up Red Corner Notices against fugitive offenders to help eliminate safe haves for the terrorists, corrupt and criminals.

Red Notices are issued by Interpol to locate a fugitive who has fled the country where he is wanted. A member country can arrest or deport an individual against whom such a notice is circulated by Interpol.

Inaugurating the 90th General Assembly of the Interpol, the prime minister flagged the need for global cooperation to deal with safe havens in different parts of the world where the corrupt find a way to park the proceeds of crime.

He said such illicit money is often taken from some of the poorest people in the world, is pushed into evil activities and is one of the major sources of terror funding.

From illegal drugs that destroy young lives to human trafficking, from weakening democracies to the sale of illegal arms, this dirty money funds many destructive enterprises, he said.

"Yes, there are diverse legal and procedural frameworks to deal with them. However, there is a need for the global community to work even faster to eliminate safe havens. There can be no safe havens for the corrupt, terrorists, drug cartels, poaching gangs or organised crime," he said.

Nearly 778 Red Notices issued by India are active, of which 205 are by the CBI against fugitives like Dawood Ibrahim, his aide Chhota Shakeel, terrorist Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, and economic offenders like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi among others.

Prime Minister Modi said police and law enforcement agencies need to devise procedures and protocols to increase cooperation to check such crimes against humanity.

"Interpol can help by speeding up Red Corner Notices for fugitive offenders," he said.

Prime Minister Modi's statement assumes significance in the wake of Interpol Secretary General Jurgan Stock's statement a day earlier listing various limitations of Red Corner Notices.

"A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant, and Interpol cannot force any member country to arrest an individual who is the subject of a Red Notice. It is not for Interpol to judge the merit of a case or a decision taken by national courts that is a sovereign matter," he had said in a press conference.

He had said our role is to assess if a request for a Red Notice is in line with our Constitution and Rules.

"This means that we cannot accept a request if, for example, it is political, military, religious or racial in character, or is not in accordance with our Rules on the Processing of Data," he had said.

He had said while"we understand that the decision not to publish a Red Notice may not be welcomed by a member country, part of the power of Red Notices is in the trust of our membership that we implement the same rules when assessing any request from every country".