India’s efforts to bring beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya back to face law in went a step forward on Tuesday with a joint team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reaching London to push for the liquor baron’s extradition.
A four-member team, headed by CBI additional director Rakesh Asthana, has reached the United Kingdom for the purpose. The team is likely to speak with prosecutors on the extradition process and also explain to them the finer points of the loan default cases against Mallya, CBI sources said. Two members of the ED are also part of the team.
Mallya's extradition is now before the British court where neither the CBI nor the ED are direct parties. Indian agencies primarily aid and assist British prosecutors with case material to counter the plea of absconders before the courts, an official explained.
The agencies' move to send a team to London is aimed at presenting a strong case for the extradition of the flamboyant business tycoon before the court.
The 61-year-old was arrested by British authorities last month on India's extradition request in connection with a Rs 900 crore loan default case of IDBI Bank being probed by the CBI. He was released on bail within hours by a London court which has fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing.
Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore (including interest) to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. The CBI has two cases against him -- one related to the IDBI Bank case and the other related to a loan default of over Rs 6,000 crore filed on the basis of a complaint from a State Bank of India led consortium.
According to media reports, while the investigating agencies are coordinating with their counterparts in the UK, the liquor baron’s extradition will also be discussed during talks between home secretaries Rajiv Mehrishi and Amber Rudd, who is scheduled to visit India later this week.
The talks are a part of the two-fold strategy to counter any possible move by Mallya seeking a political plea to halt his possible extradition both in London and Delhi.
The agencies are plugging loopholes that can be used by Mallya to stop his extradition. It is possible that Mallya’s counsel might the UK courts that his is a case of political vendetta as he was an MP during the Congress government.
The agencies are also anticipating that Mallya might argue that his case was rather a civil offence and a criminal one as impressed upon by Indian investigation agencies.
The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge on whether or not to issue a warrant of arrest. In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state.
The 'wanted' person has the right to appeal to higher courts against any decision all the way up to the Supreme Court.
Under the law, the British secretary of state may only consider four issues when deciding whether to order a person's extradition -- whether the person is at risk of the death penalty, whether special arrangements are in place, whether the person concerned has previously been extradited from another country to the UK and the consent of that country to his onward extradition is required and whether the person has previously been transferred to the UK by the International Criminal Court.
On April 18, Mallya was arrested by the Scotland Yard and was let was off on bail just three hours later. He was arrested under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) after India had made an extradition request to UK officials.
The development was an outcome of the extradition request by India pursuant to orders from a Mumbai court in two different cases against the liquor baron and founder of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Soon after getting bail, the beleaguered businessman sent out a defiant tweet, calling the news of his arrest “usual Indian media hype”.
