INTERPOL Cases in India
An INTERPOL alert surfaces in India at immigration on entry or exit, and in passport and visa procedures. What follows is decided under local law, not by the Organization: the police act on the alert; a magistrate rules on custody. The procedure before the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files is the same everywhere and is set out separately — this page covers only what is specific to India.
A Look Out Circular operates at Indian borders independently of any international alert and is constantly mistaken for one. Clearing the international record does nothing to the circular, and the two are challenged in different places.
How it works locally
- Where it surfaces
- at immigration on entry or exit, and in passport and visa procedures.
- Who decides on holding
- the police act on the alert; a magistrate rules on custody.
- Extradition
- the Extradition Act 1962 works from treaties and from arrangements notified for particular states.
- Own nationals
- In principle, India may surrender its own nationals.
- What is separate
- Any national warrant, and any travel or exit restriction imposed locally. Neither is affected by deleting international data.
What we do, and what we do not
We act on the international record: establishing what is held, and applying to have it deleted where the grounds are made out. Where a matter is live before the authorities of India — a detention hearing, an extradition request, an exit ban — we work with counsel admitted there rather than advising outside our own admission. The two run in parallel and use much of the same evidence.
What that work involves, stage by stage: our red notice removal service in India.
Before the jurisdiction matters
Two countries matter in any file: the one that made the request and the one you are standing in. They raise different questions, and separating them comes first. If you have not yet established what is on file, start with what an alert is in law and how to find out whether one concerns you.
Frequently asked
Can I be detained on arrival in India?
Detention is decided under local law rather than by the Organization. the police act on the alert; a magistrate rules on custody — and the alert alone is rarely the whole basis.
Does India extradite its own nationals?
In principle, India may surrender its own nationals. The rule is usually constitutional or statutory rather than discretionary, and it does not prevent prosecution at home for the same conduct.
Will deleting the alert lift a local restriction?
No. Any travel ban, exit restriction or national warrant is a separate record held by a different authority, and has to be dealt with separately.