CBI and ED officials in London to push Vijay Mallya's extradition

A team of officials from the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in London to discuss on the extradition of beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya following the loan default cases against him. 

A four-member team, which also includes two senior ED officials, is led by CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana. The team will apprise British authorities about the finer points of the loan default cases against Mallya, CBI sources said.

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 move to send a team to London is aimed at presenting a strong case for the extradition of Mallya before the court. Last month, the British authorities had arrested the 61-year-old business tycoon on extradition request by India 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.

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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.

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.

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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. 

(With inputs from PTI)