Liquor baron and former Kingfisher boss Vijay Mallya was on Tuesday arrested in London by local police, a little over a year since he left India after defaulting on loans worth more than Rs 9,000 crore.
“Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Extradition Unit have this morning arrested a man on an extraction warrant,” read a Scotland Yard statement. “Vijay Mallya, 61, was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud.” Mallya will now be presented before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from India will then put in a request to extradite Mallya to India.
He was declared a willful defaulter back home last year and on February 8, India had handed a formal extradition request to the British government to bring back Mallya.
While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a “legitimate” case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British “sensitivity towards our concerns”.
Sources told CNN-News18 that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley personally made an appeal regarding Mallya to British Prime Minister Theresa May in February this year.
The request for extradition was recently certified by the UK. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that Mallya’s lawyers had been anticipating the arrest and had been preparing for it.
Speaking to News18, BJP MP Subramaniam Swamy said that Narendra Modi means business and that it’s time for Mallya to go home.
However, according to lawyer HP Ranina, an arrest does not necessarily mean a stronger case for extradition.
While deportation for Mallya is easier, extradition could take time, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani told News18, according to Indian media.
