Vijay Mallya’s meeting with Arun Jaitley is irrelevant; loopholes in extradition treaties matter

Two separate developments this week, both of which are related to economic offences, have triggered heated political debate between BJP and Congress. The latest one is a comment made by fugitive Vijay Mallya to the media on a brief meeting with finance minister Arun Jaitley in parliament prior to his flight from India in 2016.

Earlier in the week, Raghuram Rajan’s explanation to a parliamentary committee on the NPA problem provoked a similar debate.

In both cases, the reaction has been confined to aspects of the issue that are of limited relevance. This is a cause for worry because neither political party has made an attempt to debate the systemic issues involved and ways in which they can be rectified.

Vijay Mallya is wanted not just by banks but also India’s enforcement agencies and some arms of government. The cases against him include offences relating to income tax and employees’ provident fund. The political class should really debate why it is so difficult to extradite fugitives such as Mallya.

According to government, India-UK Extradition Treaty requires the establishment of dual criminality. The need of the hour is find ways of using India’s economic and strategic clout to shut loopholes in extradition treaties which allow fugitives to live elsewhere without the fear of being brought to justice.