UK extradition hearing starts for ‘India’s Richard Branson’
LONDON: Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya is set to face an extradition hearing in London that should determine whether he is sent back to India to face money-laundering allegations related to the collapse of several of his businesses.
The Westminster Magistrate’s Court hearing, which begins today and is due to last eight days, will be widely followed in India, where Mallya is known for his flashy lifestyle and lavish parties attended by fashion models and Bollywood stars.
Mallya, who denies the allegations, was once hailed as India’s version of British entrepreneur Richard Branson for his investments in a liquor company, an airline, a Formula One team and an Indian Premier League cricket club.
Last month he called the allegations “baseless and fabricated”. Asked by reporters outside the courth why he didn’t return to India to answer the charges, he snapped: “That’s none of your business.”
The 61-year-old was a politician for six years before resigning from the upper house of India’s parliament last year, a day before an ethics committee was set to recommend his expulsion.
Mallya launched Kingfisher Airlines in 2005, and the carrier set new standards for quality and service, forcing competing airlines to improve. But it ran into trouble as it grew. The Indian government suspended the airline’s licence in 2012 after it failed to pay pilots and engineers for months.
That triggered the collapse of several more of Mallya’s businesses. He left India last year after a group of banks demanded he pay back more than $1 billion (R13.7bn) in loans extended to his airline.
He has been living in Britain since March 2016 and has refused to return to India to face trial in the Kingfisher Airlines case. India cancelled his passport and began an extradition process.
In May, India’s Supreme Court ruled that Mallya had disobeyed its order barring him from transferring $40 million to his children.
Gurcharan Das, a New Delhi author and former chief executive of Procter & Gamble India, said Mallya was an excellent salesman who built a great brand that included one of the nation’s favourite beers and a high-performing airline.