The Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003

(1) This Act may be called the Repatriation of Prisoners Act,2003. (2) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "contracting State" means a Government of any country or place outside India in respect ofwhich arrangement has been made by the Central Government with the Government of such countryor place through a treaty or otherwise for transfer of prisoners from India to such country or place andvice versa and includes any other Government of such country or place specified by the CentralGovernment, by notification in the Official Gazette, under sub-section (1) of section 3; (b) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (c) "prisoner" means a person undergoing a sentence of imprisonment under an order passed by acriminal court including the courts established under the law for the time being in force in contractingStates; (d) "warrant" means a warrant issued under sub-section (1) of section 7 or sub-section (2) ofsection 12, as the case may be; (e) words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Code of CriminalProcedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Code.

(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,direct that the provisions of this Act shall apply to a country or place outside India as may be specified inthe notification. (2) If the notification under sub-section (1) relates to a country or place outside India with which atreaty has been entered into by India for the transfer of prisoners between that country and India, then,such notification shall also set out the full text of the said treaty and shall in no case remain in forcelonger than the period of the said treaty. (3) If the Central Government is of the opinion that, with respect to a country or place outside India,provisions of this Act require to be modified to give effect to a treaty in relation to such country, it may,by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that the application of this Act to such country shall besubject to such conditions, exceptions and modifications specified in the notification.

Any prisoner who is a citizen of a contracting State maymake an application to the Central Government for transfer of his custody from India to that contractingState: Provided that if a prisoner is not able to make an application himself because of his ill health, mentalcondition, old age or being a minor, then, the application may be made by any other person entitled to acton his behalf.

(1) On receipt of the application undersection 4, the Central Government shall direct the officer in charge of the prison, where the prisoner isconfined, to furnish such information which in the opinion of that Government is relevant for the purposeof transfer. (2) On receipt of the information under sub-section (1), if the Central Government is satisfied that (a) no inquiry, trial or any other proceeding is pending against the prisoner; (b) death penalty has not been awarded to the prisoner; (c) the prisoner has not been convicted for an offence under the 1[military law]; and (d) transfer of custody of the prisoner to the contracting State shall not be prejudicial to thesovereignty, security or any other interest of India,it shall pass an order for forwarding the application of the prisoner to the contracting State.