The Central governement on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has been making all-out efforts and doing its best to extradite fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya but the legal complexities in the United Kingdom have been causing the delay.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the Ministry of External Affairs had raised the issue with the UK government. The UK government said they are aware of the importance of the case to the Government of India. The legal complexities in the UK were preventing the extradition so far, he said.
The communication received from the MEA further said that from political executive level to administrative level, the matter is being looked into repeatedly at the highest level. “We are trying our best, the status remains the same,” said Solicitor General Mehta.
The UK government said the matter is confidential, hence further details cannot be given out. However, it reassured the government of India that it will seek to deal with the issue quickly.
The bench of Justices U.U. Lalit and Ashok Bhushan has adjourned the matter for consideration till March 15.
In November, the court had asked the Centre to file a status report in six weeks time on the proceedings on Mallya pending in the UK. The court had posted the matter for hearing in the first week of January. The top court was informed that extradition of Mallya was delayed because secret legal proceedings were going on in the UK, which had to be resolved.
In May 2020, Mallya had lost all his appeals in the British Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. Since then, India has been pressing the UK government to extradite him.
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