Extradition case: Vijay Mallya raises woman's torture, death in Byculla prison as reality of Indian jails, says report

Fugitive business man Vijay Mallya has raised torture and deaths in Indian prisons to oppose the extradition plea in the Westminster Court in London. According to a report in The Times of India, Mallya is likely to have raised the death of a woman prisoner, Manjula Shetye, in Byculla jail in June to oppose his extradition. The court will hear the Indian government’s plea next week. The report says Mallya is likely to present Shetye’s death as the reality of Indian jails. The death had become controversial after Indrani Mukherjea, accused in the high-profile Sheena Bora murder case, claimed she protested against the torture of Shetye by the police. About 20 parliamentarians had visited the prison later to study the situation in there. [caption id=“attachment_4233021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Vijay Mallya
AP photo[/caption] Earlier, there were reports that India will convey to the British court that Mallya will not face any threat to his life in Indian jails. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is arguing the extradition case of Mallya on behalf of the Indian government. With a detailed assessment of security cover given to prisoners in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail and Delhi’s Tihar jail, the Indian government will tell the UK court that when extradited, Mallya may be lodged in Arthur Road jail where he will get full security cover as an undertrial prisoner, a government official had told PTI. The British court will be told that prisoners, both under trial and convicted, get full security cover. It is the duty of the State to ensure security and Mallya’s apprehension about threat is “misleading”, India will tell the court. The Westminster Magistrates’ Court will start hearing the extradition proceedings from 4 December. Mallya, who owes Indian banks Rs 9,000 crore and is wanted in India in various cases related to financial fraud, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on 18 April. However, he was soon granted bail by the court. If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya’s extradition within two months of the appropriate day. However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion. India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent to India last October to face trial in connection with his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002. However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. (With inputs from PTI)