Mallya extradition unlikely due to ‘legal issue’

Despite UK law stating that Vijay Mallya, the former head of United Spirits, should be extradited to India to face charges by 11 June, a “confidential legal issue” has now put a spanner in the works.

(Photo: Wiki)

After being refused leave to appeal to England’s Supreme Court, fugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya ought to be extradited to India by the end of this week. But that is highly unlikely.

Despite UK law saying the British government must him over to the Indian authorities by June 11, the maximum 28 days after his final legal recourse failed, a “confidential legal issue”, has put a road block in the way.

The UK High Commission in Delhi says that Mallya, the former head of both United Spirits and United Breweries, is unlikely to be extradited “anytime soon” because the new issue must be resolved first.

This is widely believed to be an application from Mallya for political asylum In Britain, the evaluation of which could take as long as five years based on previous cases.

Some sources believe, however, that he may be making a case that his health would be put in jeopardy if he was returned to India at the height of the Covid 19 outbreak there.

“We cannot estimate how long this issue will take to resolve,” the UK government spokesman said.

“Under United Kingdom law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved. We cannot go into any detail. We cannot estimate how long this issue will take to resolve. We are seeking to deal with this as quickly as possible,” the official added.

The UK courts have ruled that Mallya has a prima facie case to answer in India on charges of fraud, money laundering and corruption involving some £1.15 billion in loans made by a consortium of Indian banks to prop up his Kingfisher Airlines, which collapsed spectacularly in 2012.

Mallya fled to the UK in March 2016 and remains on bail of £650,000 on an extradition warrant executed by the Metropolitan Police in April 2017.

Two months ago the UK Court of Appeal upheld the ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December 2018 that Mallya had a “case to answer” in India. Subsequently he was refused permission to take his case to the Supreme Court.

Throughout the legal process, the self-styled “King of the Good Times” has consistently maintained that he will not receive a fair trial in India because he is being made a scapegoat, especially for his lavish lifestyle.

He has already been declared a fugitive offender and held to be in contempt by India’s Supreme Court.

Mallya has repeatedly asked the Indian authorities to “take the money” from his sequestered assets to settle the matter. But that ignores the criminal charges against him.