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Setback for Vijay Mallya in extradition case, loses leave to appeal in UK Supreme Court

The UK Home Office is now expected to formally certify under the India-UK Extradition Treaty the court order for Mallya to be extradited to India within 28 days.

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In a major setback for beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the fugitive businessman on Thursday lost his application seeking leave to appeal in the UK Supreme Court, setting a 28-day clock on extradition proceedings.

India is seeking the extradition of Mallya as he is facing alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crore.

The 64-year-old businessman had last month lost his High Court appeal against an extradition order to India on charges of fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

He had 14 days to file his latest application to seek permission to move the higher court against the High Court judgment of April 20. A two-member bench of Lord Justice Stephen Irwin and Justice Elisabeth Laing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London had dismissed this appeal against a Westminster Magistrates' Court extradition order certified by the UK Home Secretary. 

The UK Home Office is now expected to formally certify under the India-UK Extradition Treaty the court order for Mallya to be extradited to India within 28 days.

"The court having signified its intention to refuse to certify a point of law of general public importance with a view to an appeal to the Supreme Court," the latest decision, referred to as a 'pronouncement', said. 

It sets the 28-day "required period", as defined by Section 36 and Section 118 of the UK Extradition Act 2003, within which the extradition must be carried out.

According to reports, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mallya's appeal to certify a point of law was rejected on all three counts - of hearing oral submissions, grant a certificate on the questions as drafted, and grant permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. 

The government of India response to the appeal application had been submitted earlier this week.

In December 2018, the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London had ordered Mallya's extradition to India to face the charges brought up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). The Extradition was signed off by the then UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid in February last year. 

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had appealed to the higher court against his extradition ordered by the London Court at a three-day hearing in February this year.

Mallya, who fled to the UK in March 2016, has been declared a fugitive by India. He remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017.

The CBI which has been leading the case in the UK, said in a statement that the decision of the UK High Court to order the extradition of Mallya is a Milestone in the agency’s quest for excellence and a "reminder that economic offenders, facing probes in large value frauds, cannot consider themselves as above the process merely because they have changed jurisdictions."

"The judgement also vindicates the painstaking investigation by CBI, especially since Mr Mallya had raised various issues with regard to the admissibility of evidence, the fairness of investigation itself and extraneous consideration, with a view to divert attention from his own acts," the CBI said. 

"In a complex legal battle, stretching from April’ 2017 to May’ 2020, the CBI contested the extradition case in Westminster Magistrate’s Court and the UK High Court of Justice to satisfy the courts on various aspects of extradition and to establish the existence of a prima facia case against Mr. Mallya as well as to convince the courts about compliance of ECHR norms with regard to prison conditions and Human Rights," the central probe agency said. 

The CBI appreciated the "painstaking investigation, the hard work and the meticulous efforts of Investigating Officer Shri Suman Kumar, Addl. SP, CBI  in successfully pursuing investigation and extradition proceedings against the fugitive."

It also "gracefully" acknowledged the "painstaking and continuous efforts made by the counsels of Crown Prosecution service in forcefully presenting the GoI Case and also the efforts of various government agencies, especially the officers of High Commission of India, London, Ministry of Home Affairs and Prisons Department, government of Maharashtra in coordinating the extradition trial, timely submission of evidences and assurances and prompt follow up of the case at all stages.

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