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Ahead of the next hearing in the fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya extradition case on May 17, India said on Thursday that it was in touch with the government in the UK, where an internal legal process is on in the matter. The Indian high commission in the UK is following the case with the British government, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said. An “internal process” is on in the UK in response to India’s extradition request, he added.
The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on bank loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station on Monday morning. Mallya was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond of 650,000 pounds and giving an assurance to the court that he will abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel document. The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.
Last month, setting in motion the process of extradition of Mallya, the British government had certified India’s request and sent it to a district judge for further action. The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant of arrest. In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state.
The wanted person has a right to appeal in the higher courts against any decision all the way up to Britain’s Supreme Court. Under the 2003 Act, the British secretary of state may only consider four issues when deciding whether to order a person’s extradition. They are whether the person is at risk of the death penalty; whether special arrangements are in place; whether the person concerned has previously been extradited from another country to the UK and the consent of that country to his onward extradition is required; and whether the person has previously been transferred to the UK by the International Criminal Court.
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