Vijay Mallya fights extradition

Former billionaire Vijay Mallya was in court in the High Court London on 11, 12 and 13 February 2020 to appeal against an order for his extradition to India to face charges of fraud. Mr Mallya’s extradition was approved by Secretary of State Sajid Javid in February 2019.

Mr Mallya is wanted in connection with £1.1bn in unpaid loans that his airline, Kingfisher, borrowed from the Industrial Development Bank of India, before shutting down operations in October 2012 when the Directorate Genral of Civil Aviation cancelled the airline’s licence.

Mr Mallya’s lawyer, argued that Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot had been wrong to conclude that the Indian government had established a prima facie case. It was asserted on Mr Mallya’s behalf that the judge had been “plain wrong” to accept the Indian government’s assertions that Mr Mallya had made misrepresentations about the company’s finances or that he had fraudulent intentions when seeking the loans in question.

The primary piece of evidence that Mr Mallya’s team say was overlooked in the Magistrates’ court was Kingfisher’s annual financial accounts which accurately stated the company’s losses. The admissibility of a number of witness statements relied upon by the Indian government was also put in issue by counsel for Mr Mallya.

In addition to the extradition proceedings, Mr Mallya is facing various civil suits in the UK and his assets are the subject of multiple freezing orders. Mr Mallya remains on bail.