[ad_1]
Vijay Mallya had appealed to the UK High Court at a hearing in February this year.
London:
Business magnate Vijay Mallya lost his appeal to the High Court in London on Monday against a 2018 decision to extradite him to India to face fraud charges as a result of the collapse of his late Kingfisher Airlines company. The case will now go to the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel for a final call.
The dismissal effectively clears the way for Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India to face charges in the Indian courts, with 14 days for him to request permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
Upon request, the UK Home Office would await the outcome of that appeal. But if he doesn’t, under the India-UK Extradition Treaty, he would be expected to formally certify the court order for Mallya to be extradited to India within 28 days.
The 64-year-old man, whose business interests range from aviation to liquor, is wanted in India for more than Rs 9 billion in loans Kingfisher obtained from banks that authorities argue he had no intention of repaying. Vijay Mallya denies the charges against him and is currently on bail.
His attorney, Clare Montgomery, said at a hearing in February that Judge Emma Arbuthnot’s 2018 extradition ruling had “multiple errors” because it failed to take into account all the evidence about Kingfisher Airlines’ financial status.
On Monday, Lord Justice Stephen Irwin and Justice Elisabeth Laing, the bench of two members in the London Courts of Justice who presided over the appeal, dismissed the appeal in a ruling issued remotely due to the current coronavirus blockade.
“We have argued that there is a prima facie case of both misrepresentation and conspiracy, and therefore there is also a prima facie case of money laundering,” the High Court concluded, “the judges ruled.
According to sources from the Indian agencies investigating the case, Vijay Mallya can appeal against the order of the High Court in the Supreme Court within 14 days, in case India does not initiate the extradition process.
Vijay Mallya has repeatedly said that Indian banks can recover 100 percent of the principal amount owed to them.
“I am saying, please, the banks take your money. The ED is saying no, we have a claim on these assets. So, the ED on the one hand and the banks on the other are fighting over the same assets … What that everything they have been doing to me for the last four years is totally irrational, “he said in February.
The extradition of Vijay Mallya would be a great victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has faced pressure from the opposition to bring to justice several people who have fled India in recent years to escape prosecution, many for default on loans.
(With contributions from agencies)
