The delayed extradition hearing of absconding tycoon Vijay Mallya is set to take place on Tuesday afternoon at the Westminster Magistrate’s Court, in London.
Mr. Mallya was arrested by the Metropolitan Police on an extradition warrant in April after India launched formal proceedings earlier this year.
He is wanted in connected with a number of charges including defaulting on bank loans amounting to ₹9,000 crore. The businessman was granted bail after paying a bond of £650,000.
Test case
While no one had been extradited to India in the first 23 years of the India-U.K. Extradition Treaty of 1993, Britain last year extradited Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was wanted by India in relation to the 2002 Gujarat riots, leading to hopes for the success of future extradition requests.
During his visit to London earlier this year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley highlighted the seriousness with which India took the issue of defaulters, without making a direct reference to Mr. Mallya.
However, the extradition is hardly a done deal.The India-U.K. Extradition Treaty, signed in September 1992 and in force from November 15, 1993, allows for a number of circumstances for a person not to be extradited. These include when the court is satisfied that a case was being pursued on the grounds of race, religion, nationality or public opinion, or the accusations were not made on good faith in the interests of justice, or were “trivial in nature.”
Necessary conditions
To be successful an extradition request would have to show that the charge over which the person was being pursued would be an offence in Britain, punishable with imprisonment for at least one year, and in keeping with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The court’s decision can be appealed. Should the court accept the Indian government’s case, an order for extradition would come from the Secretary of State for the Home Office, currently Amber Rudd.
The hearing on Tuesday will likely provide a signal of the court’s approach to the case, and whether it accepts the Indian case prima facie, and if it will seek further guarantees from India, such as on prison conditions, Mr. Mallya’s personal safety, sources familiar with the matters said.
Mr. Mallya has made a number of public appearances in London in recent months, including over the weekend when he was jeered while attending the India-South Africa ICC Championship cricket match at the Oval.