India-Bahrain prisoner transfer pact endorsed

Manama : The Cabinet endorsed yesterday a draft law on ratifying the Bahrain-India Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and referred it to the Legislative Branch.

The agreement was signed by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Bahrain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in January, when the former visited the Kingdom to attend the first ministerial meeting of the India-Arab League Cooperation Forum.

The pact allows a sentenced expat to serve his jail term in his home country. If an Indian expat is sentenced to imprisonment in Bahrain, and if he requests to be transferred to his home country, then he will be allowed to complete the jail term in India.

This facility will be extended based on the type of offence committed.

The deal has to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries, before it comes into force.

Photo Caption : Sushma Swaraj and Shaikh Khalid signing the pact (File picture)