Interpol Vice-President and Central Bureau of Investigation Director P C Sharma on Wednesday admitted that red corner notices of the international agency have no legal sanctity.

Sharma was addressing the three-day International Conference on Fugitives in Delhi.

He said that member countries of Interpol should impress upon their governments to bring in laws to give sanctity to red corner notices.

He pointed out though 181 countries were Interpol members very few had mutual extradition treaties.

"Even where such treaties exist, the procedures are complicated and cumbersome. Sometimes the complicated procedures defeat the very purpose of an extradition treaty," he said.

Ronald K Nobel, secretary general of Interpol, said the fugitives should be apprehended at the border and deported to countries where they had committed crimes.

"India has given a list of 252 persons against whom red corner notices have been issued. Over 2000 fugitives have been apprehended with the help of the member countries. Earlier it used to take time to issue red corner notices. Now we can do it in a day by feeding the data into the computer," he said.

Modernisation, he said, has helped in recovering 2,50,000 fake passports from international criminals. "This we could do with the help of 29 member countries," he added.

Nobel asked member countries to create special units in dealing with international fugitives.

He refused to give any direct answer when asked what Interpol could do if Pakistan refuses to return '20 most wanted men' to India.