Mallya to be extradited

LONDON: A UK court on Monday ordered Vijay Mallya's extradition and said there were substantial "misrepresentations" in flamboyant billionaire's characterisations of his financial dealings, in a major boost to India's efforts to bring back the fugitive wanted for alleged bank fraud amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores.

Delivering the verdict, Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot said there was a prima facie case against Mallya and his human rights would not be infringed if he was extradited to India.

The judge's key word during the verdict was "misrepresentation".

She said 62-year-old Mallya misrepresented the state of the company and was not above using "round robin" methods to use the funds acquired for purposes other than specified to the banks.

She said loans were obtained based on false documents and that banks had been fooled by ostensibly billionaire's flamboyant personality.

The judge also said that there was "no sign of a false case being mounted against him".

She referred the extradition case to Home Secretary of State Sajid Javid, who must also approve it.

"I am sending Mallya's case to the Home Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order his extradition," she said, referring to the Pakistani-origin top British official.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss has been on bail since his arrest in April last year. Mallya remains on same bail conditions as before while the extradition order is signed off on by the Home Secretary. He, meanwhile, has time to appeal the decision in the UK High Court.

In case Mallya's team does not file an appeal, and Secretary of State agrees with the magistrate's decision, then he must be extradited from the UK within 28 days of the Home Secretary's extradition order.

In New Delhi, CBI spokesperson welcomed the verdict.

"We welcome the decision. We hope to bring him soon and conclude the case. The CBI has its own inherent strengths. We worked hard on this case. We are strong on law and facts and we were confident while perusing the extradition process," the spokesperson said.

The judge was extremely critical of how loans were granted and then used.

In relation to the defence's attempts to dispute Indian prison conditions as a bar to Mallya's extradition on human rights grounds, the judge said the video of the Barrack 12 of Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail, where Mallya would be held, "gives accurate portrayal and has been recently redecorated".

The judge said that the CBI and in particular its senior official, Rakesh Asthana, was criticised by the defence in its attempt to persuade the court that the prosecution was corrupt and politically led. "As will be seen later, I found no evidence that the prosecution was corrupt or politically led," she said.

"I do not accept that the courts in India are there to do what the politicians tell them to do. As I have already said, the court will be under great scrutiny. I do not find any international consensus which would enable me to find that the judges in India are corrupt," she said.