Vijay Mallya case updates: Former KFA boss to be extradited to India, says UK court order 'unfortunate'

Verdict on Mallya’s extradition significant in fight against corruption: Amit Shah

Vijay Mallya's extradition is a very significant development in India's fight against corruption. The credit for this goes entirely to Prime Minister @narendramodi, who ensured that the agencies were unrelenting in their pursuit of the man who had bled Indian banks and fled.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 10, 2018

UK court order ‘unfortunate’: Mallya

Commenting on the Westminster Magistrates’ Court order, Vijay Mallya said that his legal team will take further steps after reviewing the verdict. He termed the court verdict as ‘unfortunate’. Mallya added that he was not shocked following the court’s order.

Won’t sit on Mallya file: Top UK govt source  

A top UK government source said that it will respect judiciary’s verdict ordering Vijay Mallya’s extradition. “Mallya file will be dealt with swiftly,” the source was quoted as saying by CNN News18.

No ground to believe that Mallya faces risk at Mumbai jail: UK court 

In relation to the defence’s attempts to dispute Indian prison conditions as a bar to Mallya’s extradition on human rights grounds, the judge said the video of the Barrack 12 of Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, where Mallya would be held, “gives accurate portrayal and has been recently redecorated”.

“He will have access to personal medical care to manage his diabetes and coronary problems… There was no ground at all to believe that he faces any risk at all (in jail),” the judge ruled.  The judge ruled that Mallya would remain on same bail conditions.

—PTI

No sign of a false case being mounted against Mallya: UK court 

Delivering the verdict, Westminster Magistrates’ Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot said that there was “no sign of a false case being mounted against him”.

“Having considered evidence as a whole. There is a case to answer,” Judge Arbuthnot said as she ruled that 62-year-old Mallya could be extradited to India to stand trial on the charges brought by the CBI and the ED. She was also extremely critical of how loans were granted and then used.

— PTI

No one who cheats India will go scot free**: Arun Jaitley** 

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley welcomed the UK court’s verdict ordering the liquor baron’s extradition to India. “An offender benefited during the UPA. The NDA brings him to book,” Jaitley said in a tweet.

Mallya to face fraud charges resulting from collapse of Kingfisher Airlines

An extradition of Mallya would be a huge win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi months before an election, after opposition parties said the government had given a “free passage” to the business tycoon to flee, an accusation it denies.

Modi has faced pressure from political opponents to bring to justice several people who have fled India in recent years to escape prosecution in an array of cases, many of them loan defaults.

— Reuters

We hope to extradite Mallya soon: CBI spokesperson

CBI spokesperson said that the investigative agency hopes to bring back Mallya soon and conclude the case. “CBI has its own inherent strengths. We worked hard on this case. We are strong on Law and facts and we were confident while pursuing extradition process,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by ANI

Court says Mallya’s human rights would not be infringed if is extradited

Judge Emma Arbuthnot, England’s chief magistrate, decided there was a prima facie case against Mallya, who moved to Britain in March 2016, and his human rights would not be infringed if he was extradited. Her ruling will now be passed to the interior minister who must also approve it.

Mallya, who co-owned the Formula One motor racing team Force India until it went into administration in July, has denied all wrongdoing and argued the case against him was politically motivated.

Positive that we will get political clearance: Govt official 

Commenting on the verdict, a government official said that the UK court accepted that Mallya has committed a crime. He added that the government is positive that it would get political clearance on the liquor baron’s extradition to India, CNN News18 reported.

Court refers extradition case to the Secretary of State

Westminster Magistrates’ Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot ruled that Mallya can be extradited to India to stand trial on the charges brought by the CBI and ED.

The judge referred the extradition case to Secretary of State. The ruling marked a significant point in the high-profile extradition trial that has lasted over a year.

UK court orders extradition of Vijay Mallya

Mallya has now 14 days to appeal against the order. Mallya’s extradition now will be referred to the UK secretary of state. The Central Bureau of Investigation has welcomed the court order. Both sides will have the right to file for a permission to appeal in the Chief Magistrate’s ruling in the UK High Court.

Kingfisher Airlines employees are my first priority: Mallya 

Mallya, while talking to reporters outside the Westminster Magistrates’ Court, said that he has never been dismissive about payment concerning Kingfisher employees. “For the last two years, we have made two applications in the court, urging the court to pay the amount to the employees,” he was quoted as saying by Business Today. 

Mallya added that if the court accepts his settlement offer, employees should be paid first.

Value of my assets is more than enough to pay everybody: Mallya 

The embattled liquor tycoon said that the value of his assets is more than enough to pay everybody and that is exactly what he was focusing on.  

Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot is expected to give her verdict on whether Mallya can be extradited to India to stand trial on the charges brought by the CBI and ED.

Nobody disrespects a court of law: Vijay Mallya

Vijay Mallya in London when asked 'how genuine is his offer of settlement': There is nothing genuine or ingenuine. Please understand that the offer has been made in a court of law. Nobody disrespects a court of law. pic.twitter.com/jRs7DNtlSB

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2018

My offer to repay the principal amount not bogus: Mallya

Vijay Mallya says offer to make 100% repayment on debts taken, nobody disrespects the law by making a bogus offer pic.twitter.com/haS7a4y6ZC

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) December 10, 2018

‘Whatever the judgment, my legal team will take proper steps’

Vijay Mallya in London, UK: Whatever the judgement, my legal team will reveal the judgement and take proper steps thereafter. Yes I have tweeted saying that I want to repay, that has nothing to do with this extradition issue. It's a compltely separate matter. pic.twitter.com/ivWxjGKmVU

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2018

Vijay Mallya case being heard in Karnataka High Court today

Vijay Mallya in London, the UK: I have filed a comprehensive settlement application before the Karnataka High Court, which is also being heard today. pic.twitter.com/EE2CGVKHi7

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2018

Offer of payment has nothing to do with judgment: Vijay Mallya

#NewsAlert -- Whatever is the judgment, I have tweeted that I want to repay to the banks and my employees included, this has nothing to do with the judgment, says @TheVijayMallya. | #BringBackMallya pic.twitter.com/2w1NQ7eB6o

— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 10, 2018

‘Witch-hunt by the government’ has damaged my reputation: Mallya

The embattled liquor tycoon said that the witch-hunt by the government has damaged his reputation beyond repair. In an interview to the Times of India, he said, that the issue was stressful.​

I want to repay the banks, creditors, employees

Vijay Mallya and his team of lawyers has reached Westminister’s Court in the United Kingdom. Media was seen posing questions and thrusting television mikes towards him. He smiled. This [case] is a complelety separate matter. I have filed applications in the Karnataka High Court which is being heard today. I want to dispute the theory that I ‘stole’ money. As far as today is concerned, I have been watching with great interest all the Indian television channels. There is nothing genuine or ingenuine. The offer has been made to pay. The assets have been attached by the ED and they can’t be bogus assets.

Westminster’s Court to pronounce judgment on Mallya’s extradition case today

The Westminster Magistrates Court in London is expected to pronounce its judgment in the extradition case of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya today. The court is hearing the case on India's request.

Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/8az5Feat9G pic.twitter.com/0MtIY7xURJ

— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) December 10, 2018

Case to be heard at 3.30 pm; expected to go on for an hour

Vijay Mallya’s extradition trial is expected to start at 3.30 pm. The hearing will go on for an hour.  

The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss has been on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year

Vijay Mallya expected to arrive in court soon

The magistrate’s court will start hearing the case to decide on Vijay Mallya’s case at 3.30 IST. The hearing is expected to take around an hour. Mallya and his team of lawyers are expected to come to Westminster Court any time now. Media has gathered in large numbers outside the court.

If extradited, what next?

“If the judge is satisfied that all of the procedural requirements are met and that none of the statutory bars to extradition apply, he or she must send the case to the Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order extradition,” explains Pavani Reddy, a UK-based legal expert and Managing Partner of Zaiwalla & Co.

The judge’s decision on whether to send Mallya’s case to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid can be appealed with the UK High Court’s permission, with the person to be extradited entitled to make an application for permission to appeal to the High Court within 14 days of the date of the Chief Magistrate’s ruling.
     
On the other hand, the Indian government would also have 14 days to file leave to appeal to the High Court, seeking permission to appeal against a decision not to extradite. 

“In case the concerned individual does not file an appeal, and Secretary of State agrees with the magistrate’s decision, then the individual must be extradited from the UK within 28 days of the Home Secretary’s extradition order.

“This will also apply if an appeal lodged by either party in the High Court is unsuccessful, but the 28 days will commence from the date when the appeal hearing was concluded,” said Reddy.

‘Will take care of Mallya’s safety, security if brought to Arthur Road jail’

Authorities at the Arthur Road prison have kept a high-security cell ready for former liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya if he is extradited from UK in connection with loan default cases against him in India, an official said Monday.    

If extradited, Mallya will be lodged in one of the high-security barracks located in a two-storey building inside the prison complex, which also housed 26/11 Mumbai attack terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, a prison official said.  

A high security cell has been kept ready at the jail located in central Mumbai, he said. “We are fully prepared to lodge him safely at our correction centre. If he is brought here, we will take care of his safety and security,” the official said.

Mallya’s offer to repay 100 percent of ‘public money’

Last week, Mallya took to social media with an offer to pay back 100 per cent of “public money” to various Indian banks and urged the government to accept his offer. The businessman stressed that the extradition issue was a “separate” matter which will take its “own legal course”.

Making a reference to his liquor group United Breweries, Mallya said that “India’s largest alcoholic beverage group” had contributed “thousands of crores” to the state exchequer over the years.

Congress poses 5 questions to govt on International Anti-Corruption Day

5 questions for PM Modi on #InternationalAntiCorruptionDay
1. You're still silent on the #RafaleScam, is protecting #AnilAmbani more important that telling the people the truth?
2. It's been 4.5 years & you still haven't appointed a Lokpal, what's stopping you? pic.twitter.com/9ZPlZ1b6iW

— Congress (@INCIndia) December 9, 2018

Mallya to be lodged in Arthur Road jail, if extradition cleared

If extradited, Mallya will be housed in Barrack 12 of Mumbai Central Prison on Arthur Road. He will kept in one of the three ground floor cells of the two-storey barrack. One of the cells is currently occupied by media baron Peter Mukherjea, accused in the Sheena Bora murder case. The barrack was made fire and bomb-proof for 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab who was lodged here till he was hanged, a Times of India report said.

Mallya has in the past voiced apprehensions about jail conditions in India and how he would be treated in jail on being extradited to India. His defence team has said that conditions in Barrack 12 of Mumbai were ‘far from satisfactory’.

Judge Emma Arbuthnot had asked the Indian authorities to submit a “step by step video” of Barrack 12 for “the avoidance of doubt” over the availability of natural light in the cell where the businessman was expected to be detained pre-trial, during trial and in the event he was convicted by the Indian courts. 

A Home Ministry official said jails in India were as good as in any other country in the world and prisoners’ rights were fully protected in Indian jails. Mallya’s apprehension about a threat to his life was “misleading”, the official said.

Where have I defrauded banks, asks Mallya

With respect where have I defrauded Banks ? I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud. https://t.co/CygZODV5Xv

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 6, 2018

Mallya never intended to pay back money, says prosecution

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) team, led by Mark Summers, laying out the Indian government’s prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against Mallya, earlier argued that Mallya never intended to repay the loans he sought in the first place because his airline’s demise was inevitable. 

The defence tried to establish that Kingfisher Airlines was suffering from consequences of a wider global financial crisis around 2009-2010 and that its failure was a result of factors beyond the company’s control. 

“There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines [in sanctioning some of the loans],” Judge Emma Arbuthnot had noted during the course of the trial.

Case of business failure, says Mallya’s defence team

Mallya’s defence team, led by Clare Montgomery, deposed a series of experts in an attempt to prove that the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines’ alleged default of bank loans was the result of business failure rather than “dishonest” and “fraudulent” activity by its owner.

The court was also told that a consortium of Indian banks, led by State Bank of India (SBI), had rejected an offer by the liquor baron in early 2016 to pay back nearly 80 percent of the principal loan amount owed to them

Trial opened on 4 December, 2017

The trial, which opened at the Magistrates’ Court on December 4 last year, has gone through a series of hearings beyond the initial seven days earmarked for it.

It opened with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) team, led by Mark Summers, laying out the Indian government’s prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against Mallya.

Summers sought to establish a “blueprint of dishonesty” against the businessman and that there are no bars to his extradition on human rights grounds.

Mallya’s defence team, led by Clare Montgomery, deposed a series of experts in an attempt to prove that the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines’ alleged default of bank loans was the result of business failure rather than “dishonest” and “fraudulent” activity by its owner.

Mallya wanted on alleged fraud, money laundering charges

#VijayMallya is wanted in #India on alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores, is set to appear before the Westminster Magistrates' Court https://t.co/tdrYnL9pJf

— Moneycontrol (@moneycontrolcom) December 10, 2018

Cases against Mallya — loan default, money laundering, diversion of loan funds

Mallya, fugitive economic offender, faces a case of loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore besides allegations of money laundering and diversion of loan funds for purposes other than they were meant for. He is in self-imposed exile in London.

He left for the United Kingdom in March 2016 taking advantage of the dilution in the CBI lookout notice against him.

Indian agencies are seeking to extradite him. The case will be heard by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London today.

CBI team in London for hearing

A team of officials led by the CBI’s Joint Director, S Sai Manohar, left for London on Sunday to attend the crucial hearing in the extradition case of embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Monday, sources said.

Manohar will take the place of Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who had been attending the trial till now. The government had sent Asthana on forced leave, divesting him of all powers after he and CBI Director Alok Verma entered in a bitter feud.

Two officials of the Enforcement Directorate are also accompanying the CBI officer, sources said. Manohar is part of the SIT earlier headed by Asthana.

‘Want to stop narrative that I stole money’

Respectfully to all commentators, I cannot understand how my extradition decision or the recent extradition from Dubai and my settlement offer are linked in any way. Wherever I am physically,my appeal is “Please take the money”. I want to stop the narrative that I stole money

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 6, 2018

Vijay Mallya contests extradition

Fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya has contested his extradition on the grounds that the case against him is “politically motivated” and the loans he has been accused of defrauding on were sought to keep his now-defunct airline afloat.

“I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud,” he said in his recent Twitter post on the issue.