Father Moves Supreme Court Seeking Extradition Of IS Recruit Daughter Who Is In Afghan Jail

A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court by a father seeking directions for necessary action being taken for extradition and repatriation of his daughter and minor grand daughter. Both are presently detained inside a prison in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The plea has also sought directions for initiation of steps to extend diplomatic protection or consular assistance to the detenues through its Consular or diplomatic Office in Afghanistan.

The plea has argued that the inaction of the Union Government to bring back the detenues constitutes violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1948 (UDHR) and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966.

According to plea filed by V.J. Sebastian Francis, extradition is being sought of his daughter Sonia Sebastian and minor granddaughter who left India in July 2016 with an intention to join the ISIS in Afghanistan, after his daughter's husband along with others decided to propagate the vision of the terrorist organisation ISIS in waging war against Asiatic Nations.

It has been stated that petitioner's daughter and grand daughter only accompanied his son in law and were actively not involved in the fight, and after his death had to surrender to the Afghan forces in 2019.

Referring to an interview of 4 Indian women including petitioner's daughter, uploaded as a documentary on YouTube, the plea has stated that it can be seen that the petitioner's daughter is repenting her decision to join the ISIS and wants to return back to India and face fair trial before Indian court.

The petitioner has argued that non- initiation of the steps for facilitating repatriation or extradition of the detenues by the respondents is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

The plea filed by Advocate Lakshmi N Kaimal and Renjith B Marar has further stated that,

"India has entered into an extradition treaty with Afghanistan in the year 2016 and the Instruments of ratification of the Treaty were exchanged at Kabul on 24th day of November 2019. Therefore by virtue of the extradition treaty each contacting state has agreed to extradite any person convicted or accused of an offence committed with in the territory of one state but is found in the territory of another state. Since India has not taken step for requesting an extradition, the 1st detenue and the 2nd detenue are stuck in a foreign territory."

According to the petitioner, the issue is urgent in as much as there are substantial changes, both politically and administratively, in Afghanistan once the US troops leaves the said nation.

The petitioner has stated that since the defeat of the ISIS in Afghanistan, the Taliban is seeking immediate withdrawal American sources from its soil, thereby the United States of America has announced its complete military exit from Afghanistan by 11/9/2021.

As a result of that, the petitioner anticipates that subsequent to the withdrawal of the American forces, the Taliban and Islamic republic of Afghanistan may enter in to a war. If this is the case, the foreign terrorist fighters like his daughter could be hanged to death.

"Since the 2nd detenue was under the protection of negligent parents it becomes paramount and important that welfare of the 2nd detenue should be taken control by the State by ensuring her repatriation and safety." the plea has added.

In a related news, mother of another IS recruit woman named Nimisha Fathimal has approached the Kerala High Court seeking her repatriation from Afghanistan.