Skip to content
Search
Please enter at least 3 characters.

Latest Stories

Mallya's UK High Court extradition appeal to be heard next year

EMBATTLED liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya's appeal in the UK High Court against his extradition order has been listed for a three-day hearing from February 11, 2020, the UK court said on Thursday (17).

The 63-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss had won a reprieve earlier this month when a two-judge panel at the Royal Courts of Justice in London granted him permission to appeal against the extradition order of a lower court to face fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an alleged Rs 90 billion in India.


“The appeal hearing has been listed on 11 February 2020 with a time estimate of three days,” a UK High Court official said.

At a hearing on July 2, Justices George Leggatt and Andrew Popplewell concluded that "arguments can be reasonably made” on some aspects of the prima facie case presented by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), on behalf of the Indian government.

The ruling on the basis of that material by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot in her extradition order of December 2018, which was signed off by UK home secretary Sajid Javid earlier this year, is therefore now set for a full appeal hearing in the higher court.

“By far the most substantial ground is that the senior District Judge was wrong to conclude that the government had established a prima facie case,” noted Judge Leggatt.

Mallya's counsel, Clare Montgomery, had successfully contested the basis on which Judge Arbuthnot had arrived at certain conclusions.

She claimed the judge had been "plain wrong" in accepting some of the Indian authorities' assertions that Mallya had fraudulent intentions when he sought some of the loans for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, that he made misrepresentations to the banks to seek the loans and had no intentions to pay them back.

Montgomery also questioned the admissibility of some of the evidence produced during the extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.

The High Court judges accepted the broad arguments and directed her to submit a draft for the appeal to proceed to a full hearing, a time-frame for which has now been set for February, next year.

Mallya had said he felt “vindicated” by the ruling and repeated his offer to pay back the money owed to the Indian banks.

“I still want the banks to take all their money, do what they have to do and leave me in peace,” he said.

He has repeated this offer of settlement in subsequent Twitter interventions, most recently telling social media critics to “ask your Banks why they are not taking 100 per cent of the money I have been offering”.

Meanwhile, the liquor tycoon remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017, involving a bail bond worth £650,000 and other restrictions on his travel.

At the end of a year-long extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court last December, Judge Arbuthnot had found “clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds” and accepted a prima facie case of fraud and a conspiracy to launder money against Mallya, as presented by the CPS on behalf of the Indian government.

The court had also dismissed any bars to extradition on the grounds of the prison conditions under which the businessman would be held, as the judge accepted the Indian government's assurances that he would receive all necessary medical care at Barrack 12 in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

The High Court panel had concurred with most of the other findings of the lower court, including satisfactory prison conditions in India.

(PTI)

More For You

UK economy contracts unexpectedly in January

Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks while holding roundtable discussion during a visit to RAF Waddington in eastern England. (Photo by YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

UK economy contracts unexpectedly in January

BRITAIN's economy unexpectedly shrank in January, official data showed on Friday (14), piling more pressure on the Labour government ahead of its Spring Statement on the economy.

Gross domestic product contracted 0.1 per cent in the month after GDP rose 0.4 per cent in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan seeks £3.4bn bank loan to tackle mounting energy sector debt

Pakistan’s government is the largest shareholder or owner of most power companies

Pakistan seeks £3.4bn bank loan to tackle mounting energy sector debt

Eastern Eye

PAKISTAN government is negotiating a 1.25 trillion Pakistani rupee (£3.4 billion) loan with commercial banks to reduce its bulging energy sector debt, the power minister and banking association said.

Plugging unresolved debt across the sector is a top priority under an ongoing $7bn (£5.4bn) International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, which has helped Pakistan dig its way out of an economic crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Deliveroo posts first annual profit after 12 years

A Deliveroo rider near Victoria station in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Deliveroo posts first annual profit after 12 years

FOOD DELIVERY app Deliveroo announced on Thursday (13) its first annual profit as orders and revenue rose, while the 12-year old company sees further growth despite exiting Hong Kong.

The milestone follows sizeable full-year losses owing to high investment costs since American Will Shu founded the company in 2013 and made Deliveroo's first delivery in London.

Keep ReadingShow less
Government to abolish payments regulator to boost growth

Keir Starmer (R) and Rachel Reeves host an investment roundtable discussion with members of the BlackRock executive board at 10 Downing Street on November 21, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Frank Augstein - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Government to abolish payments regulator to boost growth

PAYMENTS REGULATOR will be abolished and its remit absorbed by another financial regulator, the government said on Tuesday (11), as it aims to cut red tape in favour of growth.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which oversees systems including MasterCard and bank transfers, tackles problems such as fraud, excessive fees and lack of competition among banks and payment providers.

Keep ReadingShow less