WILL SPEED UP EXTRADITION OF MALLYA, OTHERS, UK TELLS INDIA
The United Kingdom has agreed to expedite all Indian requests for extradition of Indian fugitives, including that of embat tled industrialist Vijay Mallya government sources said on Thursday.
“During the first home affairs dialogue between India and the UK on Thursday all pending extraditionrequests,includingof Mallya, were taken up,” said a home ministry official on condi tion of anonymity.
The Indian side was led by Union home secretary Rajiv Meh rishi and the UK delegation was led by Patsy Wilkinson, the sec ond permanent secretary in the home office.
The UK has agreed to help India in 10 such cases while New Delhi has assured support in extraditing 11 fugitives from India. Later, in an official brief ing, home ministry adviser Ashok Prasad said the specific details of Mallya’s case had not been discussed. “We have dis cussed how to remove the bottle necks in processing extradition requests.
The process involved in mat ters of extradition and the need to further improve them were also discussed,” Prasad said, adding that Mallya’s case is under judi cial process now.
The 61-year-old Mallya, who called himself “The King of Good Times”, is wanted in India for alleged financial irregularities such as loan defaults and money laundering. Last month, Scotland Yard arrested the fugitive liquor baron and a London court granted him bail within hours.
Mallya left India for Britain on March 2 last year after a consor tium of 17 banks accused him of defaulting on more than Rs 9,000 crores, mostly loans taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines Since Mallya’s extradition case is being heard by a British court, the government can only extend its support to India.