London Court orders extradition of Vijay Mallya to India

The Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London today ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya , wanted in India on charges of cheating and money laundering.

. The Court in London ruled that Mallya can be sent to India to face fraud charges.

. Three allegations were levelled against Mallya by the Indian government. These were conspiracy to defraud, making of false representations, and money laundering. After perusing the evidence, the Court found that there was a prima facie case of all three charges levelled against Mallya.

. The defence also made a number of arguments as regards reportage of the press, the independence of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as well as the independence of the judiciary.

. The Court, however, refused to buy these arguments. As regards the argument that there was a possibility of Indian judges being corrupt, the Court held,

. “I do not accept that the courts in India are there to do what the politicians tell them to do. As I have already said, the court will be under great scrutiny. I do not find any international consensus which would enable me to find that the judges in India are corrupt. The most the Professor could do was give me a handful of individual examples where the process appeared to be defective in one way or another. Such defective processes came to light and were corrected by the senior courts.”

. The Court thus rejected contentions of abuse of process in Mallya’s case, and ultimately held,

. “I find that the allegations set out in the Request are extradition offences within the meaning of section 137(3) of the Extradition Act 2003. The conduct occurred in the category 2 territory of India. If the conduct occurred in this jurisdiction, the conduct would constitute the offences of making false representations to make a gain for himself, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. The conduct is punishable in India by imprisonment for longer than 12 months.”

. The verdict is subject to the decision of the Home Secretary, as well as the decision of the appellate court should Mallya choose to appeal.

. The liquor baron has been on bail since an extradition warrant was passed against him in April last year.

. Mallya has filed an application in the Karnataka High Court in June this year, asking for permission to sell his assets under judicial supervision in order to repay creditors, to whom he owes over Rs. 9,000 crores.

. Recently, the Supreme Court issued notice in a petition filed by Mallya challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s move to declare Mallya as a Fugitive Economic Offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. Proceedings in that matter are ongoing in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (Appellate) Tribunal.

. The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act got the President’s nod in August this year. This law allows special courts to declare persons involved in economic offences worth Rs 100 crores or more a Fugitive Economic Offender, and confiscate their properties, including benami properties. It intends to prevent such persons from evading the legal process.

. As per the assurance of Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Mallya will be held at the Barrack No. 12, in the Arthur Road prison complex in Mumbai. A letter given to the London court said, – It carried out renovation works in the FY 2017-18 when plastering, painting, water proofing etc were carried out. The building housing Barrack No. 12 is “structurally stable and secure for housing inmates ”.

. Read the judgment:

London Court orders extradition of Vijay Mallya to India

Bar & Bench

Related Stories