Nirav and Mallya extradition cases pushed to next year

laundering and fraud after he flew to London in March 2016 as banks closed in on him to recover ₹9,000 crore in loans and interest his grounded Kingfisher Airlines owed them.

Mallya’s case has progressed from the magistrates court to the home secretary, who needs to order the extradition. The high court upheld Mallya’s application to appeal against the order on the grounds that the magistrates court had erred in December 2018 to conclude that there is a prima facie against him in India.

Mallya’s appeal will be heard over three days from February 11, according to the high court’s schedule.

Mallya’s claim has been that the inability to repay loans taken from Indian banks was due to a business failure, which was contested by the Indian government through the Crown Prosecution Service. He has also repeatedly offered to repay the loans.

Modi’s and Mallya’s are among several Indian extradition requests, including that of suspected cricket bookie Sanjeev Chawla, whose case has also progressed through the magistrates court and the home secretary, and is awaiting a ruling in the high court on his application to appeal.