A team of senior Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials has gone to London to brief the British Crown Prosecution Service on the criminal cases pending against industrialist Vijay Mallya.
Prosecution’s turn
Mr. Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court in a money-laundering case against him, was arrested by the U.K. police in April and released by a court on bail, in accordance with the rules, after a preliminary hearing.
The court fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing, extending an opportunity to the prosecution wing to prima facie prove his involvement in the cases against him in India, as per the provisions of the Extradition Act, 2003.
The four-member team is led by CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana. The CBI has filed two FIRs against Mr. Mallya for alleged wilful default of loans, while the ED has registered a money laundering case and attached assets worth over ₹9,600 crore.
The Indian agencies moved a formal request for Mr. Mallya’s extradition on February 8, after the CBI filed a charge sheet against him and his now-defunct company Kingfisher Airlines on January 24 in connection with the ₹900-crore IDBI Bank loan default. Several bank officials have also been named in the case.
Extradition requests
Mr. Mallya flew out of the country on March 2 last year using his diplomatic passport. The External Affairs Ministry cancelled the passport on the ED’s request, following which a request for his deportation was made.
However, the U.K. turned down the request, stating that he entered the country on valid travel papers.
The issue of pending extradition requests were earlier taken up during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May last November. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also raised the issue during his U.K. visit in March.
