Vijay Mallya on Monday lost a UK high court appeal against his extradition, a major turning point that brings India closer to bringing back the embattled liquor tycoon who is wanted in alleged money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crore.
The dismissal of the high court appeal effectively clears the decks for Mallya’s extradition to face the charges in India, with just 14 days for him to apply for permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
If he does apply, the UK home office would wait for the outcome of that appeal. But if he does not, under the India-UK Extradition Treaty, it would then be expected to formally certify the court order for the 64-year-old Mallya to be extradited to India within 28 days.
“We have held there is a prima facie case both of misrepresentation and of conspiracy, and thus there is also a prima facie case of money laundering,” the UK high court concluded.
This marks a major turning point for the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against the businessman, who has been on bail in the UK since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017.
Big achievement
“It is a significant achievement in the continuing war against economic fugitives who have been managing to stay away from the judicial process in the country,” CBI spokesperson R.K. Gaur said.
He said it also validates the “painstaking and meticulous” investigation done by the CBI.
Virus hitch
The coronavirus pandemic may impact the timescale for Mallya’s extradition to India.
An extradition expert in the UK said the strict social distancing norms in place to try and curb the spread of Covid-19 may add a further dimension to the UK's Article 3 obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
“In terms of the timeframe, much now is up in the air due to coronavirus. There is a question now that the UK could be in breach of Article 3 if it were to extradite a person to a country where they could be at risk of being detained in an environment where they could contract coronavirus,” said barrister Toby Cadman.
