Vijay Mallya’s extradition trial begins in London

The long-awaited hearing of the Indian government’s request for the extradition from Britain of VJ Mallya begins this morning.

(Image: Wiki)

The 61-year-old former head of both United Breweries and United Spirits, India’s largest alcohol empire, will be at Westminster Magistrates Court to hear the case against him laid out in detail.

He is accused of misappropriating loans of up to £1bn (including interest) from a consortium of banks to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, which failed spectacularly in 2012 after never making a profit.

Mallya is accused in India of having laundered vast sums to offshore companies, including some in Britain, and of diverting much of the cash into property ventures outside India.

He has been declared a wilful defaulter and has also been found in contempt of India’s Supreme Court for failing to make full disclosure of his assets.

Mallya has repeatedly protested his innocence on all charges and claims that he is the subject of a politically biased witch-hunt. He has not set out his defence in public, saying that the matter is sub-judice and that everything will become clear once today’s hearing begins.

However, the Indian government is sparing no effort to have Mallya extradited. It has submitted a huge dossier of evidence to the Westminster Court detailing money trails and transactions. It has even gone so far as to detail that, if the extradition request succeeds, Mallya will be held for trial in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail, which it claims exceeds humanitarian standards prevalent in Europe.

This is to counter any attempt by Mallya’s defence team to allege that he will be subject to inhuman conditions if returned to India.

Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016, only hours before a court issued an arrest warrant for him. He was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in April this year. As part of his bail conditions he has had to surrender all travel documents and ensure that his cell phone is always fully charged with location devices activated.

The hearing is expected to last up to two weeks with a decision probably delayed until early January.

Whichever way the court decides, it is likely that Mallya will remain in Britain for some time as probable appeals work their way through the British courts.