Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has sought permission to appeal in the United Kingdom Supreme Court against his extradition to India, PTI reported on Tuesday. This comes days after the High Court in Londay dismissed his appeal against a 2018 order to extradite him to India over money laundering charges.
“The leave to appeal has been filed,” a spokesperson for the UK Crown Prosecution Service, which represents the Indian authorities in the extradition case, told PTI. “We have until May 14 to respond.”
On April 20, Mallya had said that he will continue to pursue further legal remedies. “I am naturally disappointed with the High Court decision,” Mallya had said in a statement. “I will continue to pursue further legal remedies as advised by my lawyers. I have repeatedly offered to repay the banks in full, but sadly to no avail.”
Mallya faces fraud and money laundering charges resulting from the collapse of his defunct company Kingfisher Airlines. The businessman fled India and moved to London in March 2016. Mallya owes Indian banks more than Rs 9,000 crore. He had appealed to the High Court against his extradition to India in February.
India submitted an extradition request to the United Kingdom in February 2017 after Mallya made his self-imposed exile clear. In July, the United Kingdom High Court allowed him to challenge his extradition order.
In January this year, a court in Mumbai allowed the banks to utilise Mallya’s movable assets to recover the money they are owed. On January 6, the Supreme Court said Mallya cannot cite the pendency of his plea in the top court to delay insolvency proceedings in courts “anywhere else in the world”.
Earlier in April, the High Court in London deferred hearings on a plea by a consortium of banks, led by the State Bank of India, seeking that businessman Mallya be declared bankrupt, to enable them to recover a loan of around £1.145 billion (Rs 10,832 crore) from him. The court ruled that he should be given time till his petitions to the Supreme Court of India and his settlement proposal before the Karnataka High Court are determined.
Mallya had said the allegations against him were related to the borrowing of Rs 900 crore only. He also claimed that he has been offering to repay the loans to the banks. He expressed his disappointment with the “media narrative” that says Rs 9,000 crore as the amount owed in the fraud and money laundering case brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate against him. “Please note that the allegations against me and others are specifically and only related to three tranches of borrowing from IDBI Bank for a total of Rs 900 crores in 2009,” the liquor baron had said.
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