Mallya’s extradition case hearing in London deferred
Indian officials who went to London to press for fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s extradition have returned disappointed.
British prosecutors have asked them to provide materials to explain the “circumstances” in which now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines defaulted on loans, a query that suggests skepticism about the allegations of Mallya being a wilful defaulter.
An agency official privy to the deliberations in London told HT that the prosecutors want India to provide evidence that Mallya did not suffer bona fide losses and his case is criminal in nature and not a civil offence. It’s a “loaded demand”, which, if not responded to adequately, could weaken India’s case for his extradition, said the official.
Once called the ‘King of Good Times’, the liquor baron is facing investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged financial fraud and money laundering.
A consortium of banks has accused him of willfully defaulting on loans worth ₹9,000 crore. He fled to London in March last year.
Mallya was arrested and bailed by a London court on April 18 when a ‘preliminary hearing’ in the case was held. The next hearing in the Westminster Magistrates Court, scheduled for May 17, has now been pushed to the second week of June, which will give the prosecution side more time to prepare its case.
A team of CBI and ED investigators recently visited London to hold talks with lawyers of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represents the state requesting extradition in court. While the Indian side provided documents in support of their case, informed sources in London said various likely pleas to prevent extradition were discussed, including alleged political vendetta and serious fraud.
Indian agencies anticipate that Mallya might argue in the British court that his case was civil in nature and he defaulted on loans due to genuine losses. He could claim that the cases against him are political in nature as he was chosen Member of Parliament during the UPA regime, suspect ED officials.
Mallya’s Kingfisher increased its losses from ₹337 crore in 2004-05 to ₹1,647 crore by 2008-09 as fuel and operational costs outpaced revenues.
Banks restructured the debt worth ₹8,000 crore in 2010 but that failed to prevent the ailing airline from defaulting on payment of staff salaries, fuel bills, airport charges and taxes.
The businessman had sought the government’s help in exempting some taxes and interest on bank loans, as was done for ailing state-owned carrier Air India. However, the government declined as Kingfisher was a private company.
“Our teams have enough evidence on Mallya and so there is no issue about documents related to the losses (as demanded by British prosecutors). What remains is to establish his dual criminality for which usage and location of funds allegedly siphoned off to United Kingdom have to be ascertained,” an ED official told HT.
The extradition process in the UK follows seven steps: An extradition request is made to the Secretary of State, who decides whether to certify the request. The judge then decides whether to issue a warrant for arrest. Next, the person wanted is arrested and brought before the court. A preliminary hearing is then conducted, followed by an extradition hearing. Finally, the Secretary of State decides whether to order extradition. The preliminary hearing on April 18 was stage five of the seven-stage process.
The legal process in the UK is likely to be long drawn, given the opportunities for appeal to the high court. If the courts clear the extradition, it has to be finally ordered by the home secretary. Such individuals also have the last option of appealing to the European Court of Human Rights (at least until the UK leaves the EU, which is likely in 2019).