India, US talk mutual legal assistance

NEW DELHI: Days after US President Barack Obama visited India, the Central Bureau of Investigation, home ministry, foreign ministry and the US department of justice organized a joint workshop on mutual legal assistance and extradition in cases investigated by agencies of the two countries.
The theme of the three-day workshop at CBI headquarters, which was inaugurated by CBI director Anil Sinha, is ‘Obtaining Evidence Located in USA’.The workshop will focus on procedures adopted by both the countries to seek and provide mutual legal assistance, the provisions of India-US Mutual Assistance Treaty including asset recovery/forfeiture and extradition procedures. The workshop will also discuss how to obtain information related to bank accounts and digital evidence from the US and related laws of the US and cyber crime issues, which are transnational in nature.
Anil Sinha spoke of the importance of international cooperation to effectively tackle the activities of local, regional and international organized criminal groups and in strengthening collaboration and cooperation with different countries in preventing, investigating and prosecuting criminal offences.
In view of the increased use of internet technology by criminals for the purpose of recruitment and radicalization, training, financing and coordinating attacks, Sinha said this workshop would help to understand how to obtain electronic evidence and bank records from the US in their legal framework. He also highlighted that most of the servers were located in the US and, hence, understanding of US legal framework with regard to stored digital information had become crucial. The CBI director also stressed on asset recovery where swift and sustained cooperation across borders is necessary.