The Westminister Court in London has ordered the extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to India.
After a trial spread over nearly ten months, in which arguments were concluded in September, the court agreed to India’s claim seeking the businessman’s extradition on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to Rs 9,000 crore. He has been on bail since his arrest in April last year.
Mallya has the option of moving higher courts. Earlier Mallya as he arrived outside the court, Mallya told reporters “Whatever the judgement, my legal team will reveal the judgment and take proper steps thereafter. Yes I have tweeted saying that I want to repay, that has nothing to do with this extradition issue. It’s a completely separate matter”. He said he had not stolen anyone’s money and his offer to pay back the loan amount of banks is not a bogus one.
The 62-year-old former boss of Kingfisher Airlines has been on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. He has contested that the extradition case against him is “politically motivated” and the loans he has been accused of defrauding on were sought to keep his now-defunct airline afloat.
“I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud,” he said in a post on Twitter recently. “I have offered to pay of the principal amount to them. Please take it,” the flamboyant businessman tweeted earlier.
A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) led by CBI joint director A Sai Manohar are in the United Kingdom for the court proceedings.
—India Legal Bureau