UK court: Mallya can be regarded as fugitive from justice
THE HIGH COURT WAS UNCONVINCED BY MALLYA’S CONTENTION THAT HE HAS BEEN A NONRESIDENT INDIAN SINCE 1988 AND HAS LIVED IN ENGLAND SINCE 1992
LONDON:Businessman Vijay Mallya, wanted in India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around ₹9,000 crore, can be regarded a “fugitive from justice”, the UK high court has concluded.
Judge Andrew Henshaw, who upheld a worldwide freeze order and ruled in favour of 13 Indian state-owned banks to recover nearly £1.145 billion from Mallya in a judgment on Tuesday, took note of the fact that the 62-yearold businessman is contesting his extradition to India.
“In all these circumstances, and even taking account of the fact that Dr Mallya is contesting the alleged grounds for extradition, there are grounds for regarding Dr Mallya as a fugitive from justice,” the judge said in his ruling. The high court was unconvinced by Mallya’s contention that he has been a non-resident Indian since 1988 and has lived in England since 1992, a country where he has indefinite leave to remain.
“The evidence indicates that prior to March 2016 Dr Mallya travelled fairly regularly between India and England for business and political reasons...Whilst Dr Mallya has indefinite leave to stay in the UK, he is said to be a non-resident taxpayer,” it observed. The judge concluded Mallya had been in “clear breach” of a Karnataka court’s order when he disposed of assets such as a historic sword of Tipu Sultan acquired at an auction in 2003 for £188,400. Mallya has said he gave the sword away in 2016 as his relatives thought it was bringing him bad luck.