Mallya arrested in UK, gets bail

ENDGAME? Westminster magistrate sets hearing for May 17 after £650,000 surety

Vijay Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard in London on Tuesday, beginning an extradition process that may be drawn over months or years.

The Westminster magistrate’s court later granted him bail on a £650,000 bond and set the next hearing for May 17.

Scotland Yard confirmed the arrest in a statement to HT: “Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April, arrested a man on an extraction warrant. Vijay Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud.”

The statement added he was arrested “after attending a central London police station”.

In New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the arrest was in connection with India’s extradition request. “Legal process in this regard is underway in the UK. The two governments are in touch in this context,” he said.

Mallya, who arrived in London in March last year and had his passport revoked later, is wanted in India for defaulting on loans and penalties of around ₹9,000 crore related to Kingfisher Airlines, grounded in 2012.

After getting bail, Mallya tweeted that the extradition hearing had begun “as expected”.

His extradition figured in talks between finance minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Theresa May and chancellor Philip Hammond during Jaitley’s visit to London in February.

During his visit, Jaitley, without naming Mallya, remarked at an event at the London School of Economics that “democracy is liberal enough to permit defaulters to stay”.

“Many thought that when you take loan from the banks, the money need not be repaid and you can come to London and stay out here...and democracy is liberal enough to permit defaulters to stay here. That normal needs to be cracked,” he had said.

The extradition process follows these steps: extradition request is made to the Home secretary; the secretary decides whether to certify the request; the judge decides whether to issue a warrant for arrest; the person wanted is arrested and brought before the court; preliminary hearing; extradition hearing; and, the secretary decides whether to order the extradition.

There is also the final recourse – to approach the European Court of Human Rights. 16,023.46 cr: 350cr: 7,200 cr: 1,222 cr: