LONDON: Vijay Mallya on Monday lost a UK high court appeal against his extradition, a major turning point that brings India closer to getting back the embattled liquor tycoon wanted in the alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores.
The dismissal of the high court appeal effectively clears the decks for Mallya’s extradition to India to face the charges in the Indian courts, with 14 days for him to apply for permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
If he does apply, the UK home office would wait for the outcome of that appeal. But if he does not, under the India-UK Extradition Treaty, it would then be expected to formally certify the court order for the 64-year-old Mallya to be extradited to India within 28 days.
“We have held there is a prima facie case both of misrepresentation and of conspiracy, and thus there is also a prima facie case of money laundering,” the high court concluded.
This marks a major turning point for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against the businessman, who has been on bail in the UK since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017.
The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had appealed to the higher court against his
