The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday handed over its request to have beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya extradited from the United Kingdom. The request, forwarded from the Central Bureau of Investigation, was submitted to the UK High Commission in New Delhi, ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. He added that Mallya should be tried in India.
“We have an extradition treaty wth Britain and a legitimate case against Mallya,” he said. “We made the request. Now, it is for British authorities to take further action.”
Mallya is embroiled in a number of cases in India. In November 2016, he was declared an absconder by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court. The same month, India had asked the UK, where Mallya has been residing since March 2016, to extradite the industrialist under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty as he owes around Rs 9,000 crore to 17 banks in India. On January 31, a special CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya.
At the press briefing on Thursday, Swarup also said that India “continues to engage with members of the United States administration and US Congress” on concerns related to tightening H1-B visas norms for foreign professionals in the country. He also accused Pakistan of trying to divert attention from terrorism on its soil by alleging that India had a “secret nuclear city”.
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