Verdict on Mallya big win for us: CBI

Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya tried every trick up his sleeve to beat Indian attempts to have him extradited home to face prosecution for financial malfeasance, but his battery of lawyers couldn’t quite weaken the tight case the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) built against the fugitive businessman.

The businessman, who fled to London on March 2, 2016 as bankers closed in on him to recover an estimated ₹9,000 crore owed by his grounded airline Kingfisher Airlines, is likely to be India in four to five weeks after exhausting his legal options in the UK.

CBI termed the UK high court’s decision as a “big victory” for the agency and a “big jolt” for Mallya, 64, a former Rajya Sabha member. “The decision of the UK high court to order extradition of Vijay Mallya is a milestone in CBI’S quest for excellence and a reminder that economic offenders, facing probes in large-value frauds, cannot consider themselves as above the process merely because they have changed jurisdictions. The judgement also vindicates the painstaking investigation by CBI, especially since Mr Mallya had raised various issues with regard to the admissibility of evidence, the fairness of investigation itself and extraneous considerations, with a view to divert attention from his own acts,” said CBI spokesperson R K Gaur.

During the extradition proceedings between December 4, 2017 and December 10, 2018, Mallya engaged experts from banking and aviation sectors, prisons conditions/human rights, political economics and law, apart from erstwhile executives of United Breweries Group and Force India Formula One Team Limited to defend himself.

Mallya questioned then CBI special director Rakesh Asthana’s professional integrity during the trial, but judge Emma Arbuthnot rejected the allegations saying: “I find that there is no evidence that Mr Asthana has acted corruptly.”

CBI collected evidence of a conspiracy with bank officials and forgery. They pursued every hearing in the UK courts with one of them being present there to assist the crown prosecution service, which represented the Indian government.in ED, much of the credit goes to Sabtyabrata Kumar, joint director of the agency’s Mumbai’s Zone, who has been In-charge from day one and was often present at the UK court. Both Asthana and Satyabrata Kumar couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday.