New Delhi: The Centre on Monday told the Delhi High Court that there is a "prima facie" case against Indian Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl during his stay in USA in 2004, warranting his extradition.
The submission made before Justice Pratibha Rani against accused Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul also states that the present "petition being without merits and deserves to be dismissed at the threshold."
"The contention raised by the fugitive criminal (FC) that the requesting state (USA) has sought extradition of the FC on the basis of second amended complaint and the first complaint is not there, so it is irrelevant for the purpose of present proceedings... "The fact of the matter is that USA has sent all relevant documents in accordance with treaty and therefore, Extradition Magistrate is not obliged to go into other extraneous details for ascertaining the existence of a prima facie case against the FC warranting his extradition," the central government's Standing Counsel said in its reply.
Jeyapaul, 59, had approached the High Court after his representation to the Centre challenging a trial court order recommending his extradition was rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on October 30 and an order to extradite him issued on October 31.
However, the High Court had November 3 restrained the Centre from extraditing the accused till today. The court has fixed the matter for tomorrow to hear the final arguments. The reply also states "the complaint as well as the victim's affidavit clearly describe the manner in which the offence was committed and that too repeatedly.
"Even here in India, the apex court has time and again reiterated the principle of law in respect of rape cases that conviction can be done on the sole testimony of the victim." The high court had on September 16 dismissed as "premature" Jeyapaul's plea challenging the trial court's recommendation after the MEA submitted that the government has not passed any order for extraditing him to the US.
Jeyapaul was arrested on March 16, 2012 at Chimitahalli near Sathyamangalam in Erode district of Tamil Nadu and has since been lodged in Tihar jail. The trial court had said that a "prima facie" a case was made out for Jeyapaul's extradition. If extradited, he will stand trial on the charge of a "first degree criminal sexual conduct" in Minnesota.
If convicted for offences alleged against him there, the accused may get a jail term of up to 30 years. The MEA said that according to records received from the US Embassy, Jeyapaul was serving as a priest in three churches in Minnesota and had allegedly met the girl during a conference.
It had said the girl went to the church in 2004 when he allegedly sexually assaulted her and continued to abuse her till August 2005. The Centre had also told the trial court that Jeyapaul had repeatedly threatened the girl with dire consequences if she disclosed about the incident to anyone and a warrant for his arrest was issued on December 28, 2010 by a court in Roseau County in the US.
In 2010, Archbishop of Madras Mylapore AM Chinnappa had asked Jeyapaul to return to the US to face the charges. During the adjudication of the matter, the accused, who came back to India in August 2005, had denied the allegations levelled against him. He had claimed in the court that he was not involved in any crime and the case was lodged against him due to discrimination. According to the extradition treaty between India and the US, an offence punishable with more than one year in jail is extraditable.
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