Short answer: in India a Red Notice is usually called a Red Corner Notice, and requests are drafted and circulated by the INTERPOL Liaison division of the Central Bureau of Investigation, which acts as India’s national central bureau. Extradition from India is governed by the Extradition Act 1962 together with the applicable treaty or arrangement, and the conduct alleged has to qualify as an extraditable offence. The notice itself is a request, not a warrant.
| Question | Position |
|---|---|
| Local term for a Red Notice | Red Corner Notice |
| Governing extradition statute | Extradition Act 1962 |
| Requirement for surrender | The conduct must be an extraditable offence under the Act and the applicable treaty or arrangement |
| National INTERPOL bureau | The INTERPOL Liaison division of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) |
| Is a Red Corner Notice an arrest warrant | No — it must rest on a warrant or court order from the requesting state |
| Human-rights and fair-trial arguments | Raised before the courts of the country where the person is located |
| Where the alert itself is challenged | Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) |
What a Red Corner Notice Actually Does
The terminology causes real confusion. A Red Corner Notice is the same instrument as an INTERPOL Red Notice — a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar action. It is not an Indian arrest warrant and not an international one. It has to be based on a warrant or court order issued by the requesting country, and each member state decides for itself what effect to give it.
For a person named at India’s request, the practical consequence is felt outside India: border alerts, refused entry, problems with visas, banking and employment screening, and the risk of provisional detention in a third country. For a person in India named at another state’s request, the question becomes whether the conduct alleged is an extraditable offence under the Extradition Act and the relevant treaty. Our overview of INTERPOL notices explains how the notice colours differ.
Extradition From India: What Has to Be Established
Extradition proceeds under the Extradition Act 1962 and whichever bilateral treaty or arrangement applies to the requesting state. Two threshold questions decide most cases before any argument about the merits:
- whether the conduct alleged amounts to an extraditable offence under the Act and the applicable treaty — a mismatch here defeats the request regardless of the evidence;
- whether a valid judicial basis exists in the requesting state, since the request and any INTERPOL alert both stand on that foundation;
- and, where the request is contested, whether the case carries a political character or a serious risk to fundamental rights.
Where no treaty is in force, cooperation can still proceed through other arrangements, so the absence of a treaty should never be read as safety. That reasoning is set out in more detail on our international extradition page.
Grounds for Challenging a Red Corner Notice
The grounds come from INTERPOL’s own rules rather than Indian law, which is why they apply the same way wherever the case surfaces. The ones that succeed most often are:
- a political, military, religious or racial character to the case;
- a serious risk to fundamental rights if the request is acted on;
- a matter that is in substance civil or commercial rather than criminal;
- a case that has already been tried or resulted in acquittal;
- recognised refugee or asylum status;
- the absence of a valid judicial basis such as a warrant or court order;
- an offence that does not meet the seriousness threshold;
- inaccurate, incomplete or outdated data.
Each has to be evidenced rather than asserted — the CCF decides on documents alone, with no hearing and no internal appeal. Our guide to Red Notice removal sets out how the access and deletion stages fit together, and international arrest warrants covers the parallel work on the underlying case.
What to Do First
The order of steps matters more than speed, and travelling to test the position is the most common way a manageable situation becomes a detention.
- Establish what actually exists through a data access request to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files. Public searches never rule a notice out, because only some notices are published and diffusions never are.
- Identify the requesting state and the underlying warrant or judgment — the alert is only as strong as that foundation.
- Assess the risk on your actual route and residence status before any border crossing.
- Where arrest is a realistic prospect, request provisional measures blocking the data while the challenge is prepared.
- Keep any parallel domestic proceedings running: a favourable result there often removes the basis for the alert altogether.
Guidance for other jurisdictions is indexed on our countries and jurisdictions page.
FAQ
What is the difference between a Red Corner Notice and a Red Notice?
There is none in substance. “Red Corner Notice” is the term commonly used in India for what INTERPOL calls a Red Notice. It is a request to locate and provisionally arrest, circulated to member countries, and it must rest on a warrant or court order from the requesting state.
Who issues a Red Corner Notice for India?
Requests are drafted and coordinated by the INTERPOL Liaison division of the Central Bureau of Investigation, which acts as India’s national central bureau, and are then submitted to INTERPOL’s General Secretariat for review before publication.
Does a Red Corner Notice mean I will be arrested abroad?
Not necessarily. Each member country applies its own law: some may detain on the notice while the position is checked, others require a domestic warrant first. What the notice does reliably create is border, visa, banking and employment-screening exposure in a large number of countries.
Can extradition from India be resisted?
Yes. The first line is usually technical rather than factual: whether the conduct alleged is an extraditable offence under the Extradition Act 1962 and the applicable treaty, and whether a valid judicial basis exists in the requesting state. Political character and fundamental-rights risk are argued alongside those points.
How do I find out whether a Red Corner Notice names me?
Through a data access request to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files. Only a portion of Red Notices appear on INTERPOL’s public site and diffusions never do, so a public search cannot rule anything out. See Red Notice removal for the sequence that follows.