American citizen and chiropractor Randall John Cafferty found himself in deep trouble with the Indonesian government after the untimely death of a patient in 2015. He was arrested in September 2017 at Benguluru airport post a Red Corner notice issued by Interpol at the request of the Indonesian authorities while he was travelling to India.
Randall was placed in judicial custody until Advocate Ajay Verma, who is the Senior Fellow of IBJ and the head of IBJ India Trust, filed his bail application. Meanwhile, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), the designated court for extradition conducted an enquiry under the Extradition Act, upon the application filed by the Government of India. He was granted bail by the Delhi High Court in February 2018. Verma represented Randall when he participated in the extradition enquiry.
Extradition request alleged that Randall committed offences which caused the death of Allya Siska Nadya by negligence in August 2015 after giving chiropractic treatment in Jakarta. Later in the evening, the patient experienced severe pain on her back and neck and was admitted to the Emergency Department of a hospital in Jakarta. Next day she was declared dead at the hospital.
Ajay Verma contested that there was no prima facie case for causing death by negligence. He contested that the death occurred due to the medication administered by the Hospital in Jakarta and not by Randall’s chiropractic treatment. He further argued that the proximity of death was closer with the drugs administered, than that of the treatment. Also that the autopsy was not conducted immediately as warranted by the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code, and was done when the body was in advance stage of decay, four months after the death. It was further submitted that the forensic report does not suggest that the death of the victim occurred due to Chiropractic therapy.
After eight years of the case being tried, the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Pranav Joshi discharged Randall on 6th March 2025 stating, “Prima facie against FC (fugitive criminal) Randall John Cafferty is not made out in respect of the offence under relevant sections of the Penal Code of Indonesian and FC stands discharged.”
When Ajay Verma heard about Randall’s case, he took immediate action. And it is because of Ajay Verma’s diligence as well as deep commitment to his client that Randall is a free man and can fly back to America and be reunited with his family. Being wrongfully accused is terrifying, but being stranded on foreign soil can be a deeply traumatising experience. Timely and quality legal representation by Ajay Verma has resulted in realising justice. And Ajay Verma has been leading IBJ’S work in India since the organisation began its work in 2008. He has been instrumental in training over 26,825 defense lawyers in India and providing legal representation to over 3000 individuals in the last 24 years.