Vijay Mallya loses appeal against extradition in UK High Court

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Monday (April 20) lost his appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice in London against an order of his extradition to India in alleged charges of fraud and money laundering to a tune of ₹9,000 crore.

A two-member bench, comprising Lord Justice Stephen Irwin and Justice Elisabeth Laing, dismissed the appeal in a judgment handed down remotely due to the current coronavirus lockdown.

“We consider that while the scope of the prima facie case found by the SDJ [Senior District Judge] is in some respects wider than that alleged by the Respondent in India [CBI and Enforcement Directorate], there is a prima facie case which, in seven important respects, coincides with the allegations in India,” the judges ruled.

The 64-year-old businessman’s Kingfisher Airlines that closed its operations in 2012 had borrowed the amount from various banks in India. UK home secretary Priti Patel will now take up the case for a final decision on Mallya’s extradition.