UK yet to approve Vijay Mallya extradition

With just a week left, the UK Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, is yet to formally order liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India. After the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on December 9, 2018, ordered Mallya’s extradition, the Home Secretary has two months to review and formally approve the extradition.
“Westminster Magistrates’ Court (on 10 December) sent the case of Vijay Mallya to the Home Secretary for a decision on whether to order extradition. The Home Secretary has two months to make his decision,” the official spokesperson of the UK Home Office told The Sunday Express.
The spokesperson said the Home Secretary may, “by law, only consider four issues — whether the person would be subject to the death penalty; whether speciality arrangements are in place (these ensure that a person can only be tried for the offences for which he has been extradited); whether the person has previously been extradited to the UK from another territory; and whether a person has been transferred to the UK by the International Criminal Court”.
According to UK guidelines, the Secretary of State (Javid) has to make a decision within two months of the day the case is sent, otherwise, the person may apply to be discharged. However, the Secretary of State can apply to the High Court for an extension of the decision date. More than one extension can be sought if necessary.
Mallya, who is facing charges of fraud, money laundering and violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and the Indian



government can appeal against the decision of the UK Home Secretary within 14 days of the order.
Mallya Friday claimed his group’s properties worth over Rs 13,000 crore have been attached, more than the ‘claimed’ Rs 9,000 crore that he “ran away with”, asking where is justice and how far will it go.
In a series of tweets, Mallya claimed that the banks to which he owes money “have given an open licence to their Lawyers in England to pursue multiple frivolous litigations against” him questioning the “brazen” spending of “public money on legal fees”.
“Every morning I wake up to yet another attachment by the DRT (debt recovery tribunal) recovery officer. Value already crossed (Rs) 13,000 crore. Banks claim dues including all interest of (Rs) 9,000 crore which is subject to review. How far will this go and well beyond? Justified??”, Mallya tweeted.
He also said the DRT recovery officer recently attached his group’s assets worth over Rs 13,000 crore in India on behalf of the consortium of banks.
Meanwhile, a special Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) court on February 5, will hear a plea filed by a 17-bank consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI) seeking early release of Mallya’s assets worth about Rs 12,500 crore that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached. The banks want these assets to be sold immediately to realise the best value.
Last month, the PML court in Mumbai declared Mallya a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders’ Act, 2018.