The British authorities have started the legal process to extradite wanted business tycoon Vijay Mallya to India. However, it is not certain if the legal process would culminate in his return to India to face charges as India-U.K. Extradition Treaty allows a wanted person to seek several guarantees before being extradited.
“The U.K. Home Office, on February 21, 2017 has conveyed that the request has been certified by the Secretary of State and sent to Westminster Magistrates’ Court for a District Judge to consider issuing an arrest warrant,” said MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay on Friday.
The MEA had made a formal request to extradite Mr. Mallya as per the treaty which was handed over to the British High Commission in New Delhi through a diplomatic note of request or ‘note verbale’ sent on February 8, 2017.
Mr. Mallya, who led the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, is wanted by a consortium of banks for defaulting on loans amounting to more than ₹9,000 crore.
Positive development
Starting of the legal process in London is a positive development in the case which has faced difficulties from the beginning. Mr. Mallya’s passport was revoked by the MEA on April 24, 2016. However, the U.K. had expressed its inability to deport Mr. Mallya as he has been living there on a valid U.K. visa.
The Hindu had earlier reported, Indian agencies are worried that Mr. Mallya, who holds a legal residency of U.K. since 1992, might follow the Lalit Modi example and delay his extradition. In that case, India has not been able to make headway in bringing him back. Interpol has also not accepted the request for a Red Notice against him.
The Extradition Treaty, however, has several provisions under which a person can seek exemption from extradition to India citing several grounds. Indicating at the slow process of extradition from the U.K., Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh on Friday said in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha that the U.K. has extradited only one person in the last five years through the route laid down in the extradition treaty which came into force in 1993.
“As on date, a total of 10 extradition requests made by the Government of India in respect of fugitive criminals namely Rajesh Kapoor, Tiger Hanif, Atul Singh, Raj Kumar Patel, Jatinder Kumar Angurala, Asha Rani Angurala, Sanjeev Kumar Chawla, Shaik Sadiq, Ashok Malik and Vijay Vittal Mallya are pending with the U.K. government,” Mr. Singh said in response to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP from Goa Shantaram Naik.
