India hands over Mallya extradition request to Britain

New Delhi, Feb 9:  India on Thursday handed over a request for the extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya to the British High Commission, seeking his presence to face trial in connection with a Rs 9,000 crore loan default case. “We have today handed over the request for extradition of Vijay Mallya as received from the CBI to the UK High Commission in New Delhi. We have requested the UK side to extradite him to face trial in India,” Vikas Swarup, Ministry of Exterl Affairs spokesperson said at a briefing here.

India’s request comes nearly three months after British Prime Minister Theresa May’s India visit during which Prime Minister rendra Modi had handed over a list of 57 fugitives, including Christian Michel, Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi, against whom extradition requests are pending.

Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by a consortium of banks seeking to recover about Rs 9,000 crore owed by him and his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said the agency’s Mumbai branch had maged to issue a court order regarding Mallya’s extradition last week and it was later handed over to the Exterl Affairs Ministry through legal channels.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are the two agencies probing Mallya’s case on different aspects.

The CBI had in January filed its chargesheet against Mallya in the Rs 9,000 crore loan default case under charges of cheating and crimil conspiracy. He was later declared absconder. (IANS)

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