UK court set to decide on Vijay Mallya’s appeal against extradition

The next legal stage of businessman Vijay Mallya’s extradition is set to begin after the Home Office submitted its response to his application for permission to appeal against the Home Secretary’s February 4 order clearing his extradition to India.

Facing charges of financial irregularities worth over ₹9,000 crore, Mallya again took to Twitter on Tuesday to reiterate his main contention that his inability to return bank loans was a result of genuine business failure, offering to repay them.

Mallya’s extradition case has progressed through the Westminster Magistrates Court, which ordered his extradition in December 2018. An appeals court judge will now decide whether grounds cited in his application merit progressing the case to a full hearing.

“All the papers have been received and are now awaiting allocation to a single judge who will decide, on the basis of those papers, if permission is given to go to a full hearing,” a spokesman for the judiciary said on Tuesday.

Mallya filed his notice of appeal on February 14 and the Home Office responded to it within 20 days. Legal experts say the case is usually allowed to go for a full hearing if new grounds or evidence not previously considered in lower courts are cited.

In a series of tweets, Mallya used the current financial problems of Jet Airways to plug his case, demanding that his assets placed before the Karnataka high court be used to pay off banks and other creditors, adding: “It will help them to save Jet Airways if nothing else”.

Noting that banks were reportedly bailing out Jet Airways, Mallya said: “I invested 4000 crores into Kingfisher Airlines to save the Company and its employees. Not recognised and instead slammed in every possible way.”

“The same PSU Banks let India’s finest airline with the best employees and connectivity fail ruthlessly. Double standards under NDA”, he added.

Wishing banks had similarly bailed out his Kingfisher Airlines, he said: “BJP spokesman eloquently read out my letters to PM Manmohan Singh and alleged that PSU Banks under the UPA Government had wrongly supported Kingfisher Airlines”.

“Media decimated me for writing to the PM. I wonder what has changed now under the NDA Government”.

Mallya has previously taken to twitter to seek to change the narrative that he “stole” money from India and fled, reiterating that he had offered to return the loans, wondering why the government was not taking up the offer.