The extradition of Vijay Mallya: The Indian government has secured a key victory but a lot more work remains

• A UK court has said that liquor baron Vijay Mallya should be extradited to India in order to answer for his alleged crimes, most of which relate to the default on loans made to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
  
• Following the decision by the Westminster Magistrate, the case has now been referred to the UK’s home secretary, who will rule on whether not he should be extradited.
  
• Meanwhile, Mallya has the option of filing appeals in both the UK High Court and Supreme Court.
  
• The entire process is expected to take months on end, if not years, given the number of judicial procedures and legal steps involved.

Yesterday, a UK court ruled that liquor baron Vijay Mallya could be extradited to India in order to answer for his alleged crimes, most of which relate to the default on thousands of crores worth of loans made to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya is suspected to have misled the executives of several Indian banks, including the government-owned State Bank of India, about the financial struggles of the airline and diverted a lot of those funds to his other ventures.

After waiting since February 2017, when it made a formal request to the UK for Mallya’s extradition, India’s government was obviously happy with the verdict. However, a lot more work and judicial procedures remain to bring Mallya back to India and subsequently pay for his crimes.

Following the decision by the Westminster Magistrate, the case has now been referred to the UK’s home secretary, who will rule on whether or not he should be extradited. A decision is expected within two months.

Meanwhile, Mallya has two weeks to lodge an appeal in the UK High Court against the lower court’s recommendation to extradite him as well as the home secretary’s decision, as and when it's made. If the appeal, which will only be heard if the home secretary allows it, is rejected, Mallya can then seek recourse in the UK Supreme Court within two weeks of the high court’s verdict.

The entire process is expected to take months on end, if not years, given the number of judicial procedures and legal steps involved.

Also, given that so much of this is dependent on the discretion of the home secretary, the Indian government will need to consistently make its case for extradition to the UK government. In addition to the severity of his financial crimes, it will have to prove repeatedly that Mallya will be subjected to a fair trial and humane living conditions while in jail.

Meanwhile, India’s investigative and law enforcement agencies, primarily the Enforcement Directorate (ED), will get to work on having Mallya declared a “fugitive economic offender.” The designation will allow them to seize his assets, both domestic and international.

Last week, India’s Supreme Court dismissed a plea by Mallya seeking a suspension on proceedings against him by the ED. In addition to securing the “fugitive economic offender” label for Mallya from a special anti-corruption court, the agency is also looking to confiscate ₹125 billion worth of his assets.


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